The NFL has chosen the hill it wishes to die on.
The protests are going to continue, and the division between the NFL and fans is going to broaden.
That doesn’t mean the rest of us will be silent about it.
Hall of Famer Mike Ditka sure as Hell isn’t backing down from his original stance on the matter either.
Ditka once again was asked for his opinion on the matter, and he responded the same way he has twice before: “If you can’t respect this country, get the hell out of it.”
Fox News has Ditka's comments:
“Football's football. It's not a complicated thing. You're playing the game, you're enjoying the game. You don't like the game, get out of it,” Ditka said in an interview with Newsmax TV on Monday. “It's not for protesting one way or the other. What color you are, what you think, this or that. 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. It makes no sense to me.”
Ditka added: “I would tell those players go to another country and play football there. You don't have to come out. You don't have to come out if you go to another country. You can't! Because the game's only played in this country. And if you can't respect this country, get the hell out of it.”
Back in July, Ditka told TMZ that protesting the flag was unpatriotic.
The Washington Examiner covered that story:
Former National Football League player and coach Mike Ditka denounced kneeling protests that take place during the national anthem.
The 80-year-old NFL legend told TMZ over the weekend that kneeling during the national anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality is unpatriotic during an interview about a new women’s tackle football league he's set to be chairman of.
"If you can't respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country," Ditka said. "That's the way I feel. Of course, I'm old fashioned, so I'm only going to say what I feel."
"You don't protest against the flag, and you don't protest against this country who's given you the opportunities to make a living playing a sport that you never thought would happen," he added. "So, I don't want to hear all the crap."
Coach Ditka says out loud what many Americans cannot.
The former NFL player and coach is never afraid to make a stand.
Ditka has also been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump for years.
Coach Ditka talked to Fox News about his support of president Trump back in 2016.
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