NFL hall-of-famer Mike Ditka has slammed pro athletes who protest the flag and take a knee during the national anthem, saying they should ‘get the hell out of the country’.
‘If you can’t respect the anthem, get the hell out of the country. That’s the way I feel,’ said Ditka.
‘Iron Mike’, a three-time Superbowl champion, who played tight end for the Bears, Eagles and Cowboys, spoke out against the kneeling trend when asked whether he will allow female athletes in X League football – where he is now commissioner – to kneel during the anthem.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
While admitting he doesn’t have powers to ban his athletes from kneeling, he made it clear he ‘doesn’t want to hear any of that c**p‘ when it comes to the protests.
Speaking to TMZ, he said: ‘If it was up to me, I would say no. If you can’t respect the anthem, get the hell out of the country. That’s the way I feel.
‘I’m old fashioned, I’m only going to say what I feel. I think there’s a way you protest and a way you don’t.
‘You don’t protest against the flag and you don’t protest against this country, that’s given you the opportunity to make a living playing a sport that you never thought would happen. So I don’t want to hear all that c**p.’
National anthem protests have been ongoing in the NFL since 2016, when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began sitting out the anthem to protest inequality in America.
Mike Ditka is not the only NFL Hall of Famer to criticize Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling movement.
Franco Harris says national anthem protests would not have been tolerated by players in his day. In fact, Harris says that overpaid jackasses like Colin Kaepernick would have got their ass beat for pulling attention-seeking stunts like kneeling during the anthem.
In an interview with Mediate, Harris was asked about NFL players refusing to stand for the national anthem, a demonstration that was started by Colin Kaepernick who says he was protesting police brutality and racial inequality.
During the 2017 NFL preseason, other players like the Seattle Seahawks’ Michael Bennett and the Oakland Raiders’ Marshawn Lynch staged similar protests of their own.
Harris said that even though America has social issues that need to be dealt with, it’s important to respect the country by standing before the flag.
According to Harris, Kaepernick and other players should find a different platform for their protests.
“If someone has a certain stance that they want to take, that’s fine,” Harris said.
“When he puts on that suit, when he steps out on that field, now it’s more than just him. It’s his teammates, it’s the NFL, and it’s the fans.”
Harris went on to say that the team must come first, and coaches and teammates in his day would not have tolerated Kaepernick’s antics.
As the discussion continued, Mediaite columnist John Ziegler asked Harris how his coaches and teammates would have confronted Kaepernick over his conduct.
“We had two of the meanest guys in football, who I think would’ve dealt with it that way, and that would’ve been Joe Greene and Jack Lambert,” Harris said.
George Foreman also weighed into the debate recently and slammed Colin Kaepernick and Kevin Durant. On a podcast Monday, Foreman said neither the football nor basketball star are patriots.
Yes folks, the world’s most famous “grill maker” just grilled two of today’s most anti-American/anti-Law Enforcement athletes.
