Former National Football League player and coach Mike Ditka told Newsmax TV on Monday that he doesn’t understand why football players are protesting police brutality and racial injustice by refusing to stand for the national anthem.
"If you can't respect this country, get the hell out of it," Ditka said on "National Report."
"It’s not a complicated thing," he said. "You play the game, you enjoy the game, if you don’t like the game, get out of it."
He added, "You play football, that’s it. You’re privileged, you got a gift from God that you can play the game because you got a body you can do it with.
"I don’t really understand what you’re protesting. I played the game, I coached the game for a long time, and it makes no sense to me. You ought to get down on your hands and knees and thank God every day that you can make the kind of money that you can make playing football, or playing any sport."
Ditka added, "So, to me it makes no sense, you got the wrong guy."
He suggested that players who don't want to be on the field for the national anthem should "go to another country and play there."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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