Former Saints teammate defends Drew Brees from vicious criticism over Christian Bible video

Benjamin Watson, former New Orleans Saints tight end, spoke out in defense of Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who was featured in a recent pro-Christianity, pro-Bible video produced by Focus on the Family.

The LGBTQ lobby attacked Brees over his participation in the viral video.

What did Watson say?

Watson, an outspoken Christian, appeared on "Fox & Friends" to defend the faith of his former teammate, as well as his actions.

"My reaction was, first, the article itself was misleading and a mischaracterization of Focus on the Family and of Drew," Watson said. "They were slanderous. And so my response was to stop lying with those sorts of labels."

He added the criticisms of those against the video — and Brees' participation in the project — were especially offensive because of the very idea of how critics characterized the Christian group.

"It's a shame in this country right now if you adhere to certain biblical beliefs, that we all have a right to choose what religion we adhere to, you're labeled as 'anti,'" he said. "What Focus on the Family does is upholds marriage, which family is the basic building block of society."

He continued, "[The group upholds] those things and they're labeled 'anti' by other people. And there's an agenda there, and that's what really upset me about the whole thing."

What was in the video, anyway?

The video, a promotion advocating for Christian children to bring their Bibles to school, featured Brees — a practicing Christian — encouraging children to live out their faith in a big way.

"I want to encourage you to live out your faith on Bring Your Bible to School Day, and share God's love with friends," Brees says in the video. "You're not alone."

Brees responded to criticisms after the video went viral.

In a statement, the New Orleans Saints quarterback said, "What I did was I filmed a video recently that was encouraging to kids to bring their Bibles to school for national Bring Your Bible to School Day. ... So I'm not sure why the negativity spread, or why people tried to rope me into certain negativity."

"I do not support any groups that discriminate, or that have their own agendas that are trying to promote inequality, OK?" he added. "So hopefully that has set the record straight, and we can all move on, because that is not what I stand for."

You can watch the original Focus on the Family video below.

Shout-Out from Drew Breeswww.youtube.com