NFL Hall of Fame Brett Favre, like many others, was not impressed with Allstate CEO Tom Wilson’s message before the Sugar Bowl this week.
Wilson faced backlash on social media after saying in a video message earlier Thursday College Football Playoffs quarterfinal match that Americans should overcome an “addiction to division” and instead “accept people’s imperfections and differences.”
Tom Wilson, chairman and CEO of Allstate Corp., listens during the CEO Initiative event in New York on September 25, 2017. (Misha Friedman/Bloomberg)
His message was a response to a terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day that claimed the lives of 14 people and injured dozens more.
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“On Wednesday, tragedy struck the New Orleans community. Our prayers are with the victims and their families. We also need to be stronger together by overcoming the addiction to division and negativity,” he said.
“Join Allstate working in local communities across America to amplify the positive, build trust, and embrace people’s imperfections and differences. Together we will win.”
Favre posted on X Friday, criticizing the statement and at the same time calling ESPN for not rebroadcasting the national anthem before the game between Georgia and Notre Dame.
Former NFL player Brett Favre speaks onstage at SiriusXM at Super Bowl LIV on January 31, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
“Heard: There was no televised National Anthem for the Sugar Bowl yesterday. Instead, there was a DEI message from the CEO of Allstate,” his post read. “Woke is a joke.”
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Many threatened to boycott Allstate because of the message, but in a statement to Pak Gazette Digital on Thursday, the company clarified Wilson’s stance by condemning “violence in all its forms.”
“To be clear, Allstate CEO Tom Wilson unequivocally condemns this heinous act of terrorism and violence in all its forms. We stand with the victims’ families, their loved ones, and the New Orleans community. The reference to overcoming division and negativity reflects a broader commitment to fostering trust and positivity in communities across the country,” the statement said.
The field before a game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Bulldogs at the Caesars Superdome. (Stephen Lew/Image Images)
Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran, plowed into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street using a pickup truck flying an ISIS flag. He was pronounced dead after an exchange of gunfire with police.
The FBI described it as act of terrorism and found some possible improvised explosive devices around the French Quarter and in Jabbar’s vehicle.
