Hall of Fame football coach and former NFL broadcaster Mike Ditka spent much of the 2016 season voicing his opposition to Colin Kaepernick’s protest against racial injustice and police brutality.
And while George Floyd’s death in May sparked a nationwide movement against police brutality, the now-80-year-old hasn’t changed his perspective on the country’s systemic racism. In fact, he’s back to saying the same things he said in 2016 and 2017.
Speaking in an interview with TMZ Sports about his women’s football X League, Ditka was asked about the resurgence of peaceful protests from athletes during the national anthem — MLB, the WNBA, NWSL and MLS have all had players protesting during the anthem since restarting. Ditka said:
“If you can’t respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country. 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. So, I don’t want to hear all the crap.”
Of course, just as it has been pointed out repeatedly, the athletes are not protesting against the flag or the anthem.
They are using their platform to peacefully bring attention to a real issue in this country. Ditka has had four years to grasp that concept, but he’s instead leaned into statements like “there has been no oppression in the last 100 years.”
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