Mike Vrbael reacts to TreVeyon Henderson’s support for NBA player cut after anti-gay comments
On Monday night, Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson offered support for ex-Bulls guard Jaden Ivey on X/Twitter after Ivey was released for making anti-gay comments, which were part of what the organization deemed conduct detrimental to the team.
In his post, Henderson quoted a bible verse: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Ivey recently described the LGBTQ community as unrighteous in a live stream from his Instagram account.
“The world proclaims LGBTQ, right?” Ivey said. “They proclaim Pride Month and the NBA does, too. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.’ They proclaim it on the billboards. They proclaim it on the streets. Unrighteousness.”
On Tuesday, Mike Vrabel reacted to Henderson’s post, which seemed to align with Ivey’s views.
“I want to tell you, I love TreVeyon,” Vrabel said at the NFL Annual Meeting. “I love the person. He cares deeply about our team. He cares deeply about his faith. He cares deeply about his family, his wife, the people in our building. And so I want them to be able to express what they believe in their heart(s) and in their mind(s), but also (I) want to make sure that they’re educated. And we want to be inclusive. Everything we want to do (is) to provide an environment for people to want to feel comfortable, but also to share their personal beliefs. And then also, we represent the team. And we represent the organization.”
Asked if he felt compelled to speak with Henderson or the team about his comments, Vrabel later said: “(We’re) never going to tell them how to feel. (We) certainly want to make sure that they understand that their actions represent something more than just themselves. And so I do think there’s a fine line. We’re always talking about those kinds of things. We’re trying to educate them, no different than myself or (media) or my kids.”
The Patriots have annually celebrated June as Pride Month on their social media accounts, writing last year on X, “We celebrate together.”
