Burgess Owens Doesn’t Support Kneeling, Is Prepared Not to Watch NFL

Burgess Owens, a former player for the New York Jets, said that he is prepared to stop watching the NFL because of commissioner Roger Goodell’s encouragement of teams to consider signing Colin Kaepernick and players choosing to peacefully protest during the national anthem.

“If Goodell allows Kaepernick to come back, if they allow players to kneel during the national anthem, I’m willing to not watch the game,” Owens told Sports Illustrated’s JetCountry.com. “The only thing that can change the league is to change commissioners. This has been going on way too long, it is four years of this mess.”

Owens played for the Jets and Oakland Raiders during a career that spanned 10 years. He is currently running for Congress in Utah as a Republican, and he’s also one of the few former black players who agrees with President Trump when it comes to peacefully protesting during the national anthem before football games.

Owens also said that the movement to bring back Kaepernick isn’t based on meritocracy.

“If it was a meritocracy he would be out there anyway, he would work hard, he would prove himself. He wouldn’t be taking someone else’s position. We’re looking at affirmative action for a Marxist. We’re approving their ideology,” Owens said.

Owens has the distinction of having viewed the world through differing political lenses.

Back when he played in the NFL, he was a Democrat.

Owens says that changed during the Ronald Reagan presidency.

He's since decided to run for congress as a Republican in Utah.

Sports Illustrated:

Taken in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Jets, Owens is running in Utah’s fourth district. The state’s primary is June 30. This is his first dive into politics although he has been outspoken as an author and speaker on conservative issues for quite some time. In recent years, he has been actively engaged in mentoring youth.

A Democrat during his playing days, Owens says his political evolution came in the 1980s during the Ronald Reagan administration. Back then, he found his views as a small business owner more aligned with the Republican party. He cites values of faith and education as being influential in his switching of parties during this time.

Owens says he was influenced by an upbringing in which education was emphasized. His father, a World War II veteran, was a college professor at Florida A&M. His mother was a high school teacher.

He calls the current tension in the country part “of a culture war in which there is an ideology trying to tear our country apart.” 

Owens has maintained his position on the imortance of standing for the Stars and Stripes.

He has been a vocal opponent against athletes kneeling for the national anthem, and has questioned the leadership within the NFL for years. 

Perhaps if more Americans were steadfast in defending the values that have made this country great, and were willing to step away from sports organizations that cater to Marxist ideologies, real change could occur.