A Saints fan is suing the team for the cost of his season tickets, because he said he was upset by player protests during the national anthem.
But those protests may not have actually started at the time which he became so offended he decided to stop going to games.
According to Chad Calder of the New Orleans Advocate, Lee Dragna of Morgan City, La. is suing the Saints for a refund of his season tickets, claiming the protests prevented him and his family from enjoying a game.
One potential problem: The Saints may not have made any political statements at the game he attended, the home opener on Sept. 17 against the Patriots.
The one time we protested an anthem was an away game. After a team meeting we decided to kneel as one BEFORE the anthem was played and STAND united as one DURING the anthem! Good luck dude ✌🏾 https://t.co/28huwGP0Pu
— Mark Ingram II (@markingramII) December 13, 2017
As Saints running back Mark Ingram noted, there were no organized player protests until the Week Three game at Carolina, in which 10 players sat, but that was the week after President Donald Trump launched his attack on Colin Kaepernick and other players who knelt during anthems to protest police brutality and racial inequality.
There were no reports of Saints players protesting prior to Week Three.
The lawsuit said some players didn’t come out of the locker room for the national anthem, and when they did, they passed in front of his section and were greeted by boos.
“Apparently, these players were following the lead of (former San Francisco 49ers quarterback) Colin Kaepernick by disrespecting the flag, the anthem, the USA and those who have served and are serving the USA in our military,” the lawsuit read.
He also claimed that the angry reaction of fans swearing at players and spilling beer is “borderline dangerous,” and that the “Saints created that behavior by condoning it.”
Dragna said he asked the Saints for a refund on the tickets and was turned down. He said he spent about $8,000 for the tickets.
“They don’t even want to talk about this, but I don’t care,” he said. “One way or another they’ll pay.”
After the game in Charlotte, Drew Brees organized a decision by players to kneel before the anthem but stand during it.
The Saints only response was to say the lawsuit had been forwarded to the team’s legal department, and that the team would have no other comment.