‘Go to the hell of the country’

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.

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And while George Floyd’s death in May sparked a national movement against police brutality, the 80-year-old has not changed his perspective on the country’s systemic racism. In fact, he has said the same thing he said in 2016 and 2017.

Speaking in an interview with TMZ Sports about her women’s soccer X League, Ditka was asked about the resurgence of peaceful protests by athletes during the national anthem: MLB, WNBA, NWSL and MLS have had players protesting during the anthem since its restart. Ditka said:

“If you can’t respect our national anthem, get out of the country. This is how I feel. Of course, I am out of fashion. So, I’m just going to say what I feel … You don’t protest against the flag, and you don’t protest against this country that has given you the opportunity to live playing a sport that you never thought would happen. So I don’t want to hear all the crap. “

Of course, as has been repeatedly pointed out, athletes are no protesting against the flag or anthem.

They are using their platform to peacefully draw attention to a real problem in this country. Ditka has had four years to understand that concept, but instead leaned toward statements like “there has been no oppression in the past 100 years.”