Hall of Fame NFL coach Mike Ditka tripled down on his stance against protests during the National Anthem, once again telling players to &#8220;go to another country&#8221; if don&#8217;t like the United States.
Speaking with Newsmax TV on Monday, the former Chicago Bears coach said that playing professional football is an incredible &#8220;privilege&#8221; that few enjoy.
“Football&#8217;s football. It&#8217;s not a complicated thing. You&#8217;re playing the game, you&#8217;re enjoying the game. You don&#8217;t like the game, get out of it,” Ditka said. “It&#8217;s not for protesting one way or the other. What color you are, what you think, this or that. You play football. That&#8217;s it. You&#8217;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&#8217;t really understand what you&#8217;re protesting. I played the game. I coached the game for a long time. It makes no sense to me.”
Ditka then advised those players protesting to leave the country if they do not like it here.
“I would tell those players go to another country and play football there,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You don&#8217;t have to come out. You don&#8217;t have to come out if you go to another country. You can&#8217;t! Because the game&#8217;s only played in this country. And if you can&#8217;t respect this country, get the hell out of it.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NFL 🏈: Hall-of-Fame coach Mike Ditka tells protesting players that if &#39;they can&#39;t respect this country, get the hell out of it.&#39; [with Newsmax TV&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/ShaunKraisman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShaunKraisman</a> <a href="https://t.co/VlT7z8drtO">https://t.co/VlT7z8drtO</a>] <a href="https://t.co/E3jPCBrMdt">pic.twitter.com/E3jPCBrMdt</a>
&mdash; Newsmax (@newsmax) <a href="https://twitter.com/newsmax/status/1305565721376829449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Mike Ditka has been an outspoken opponent of the National Anthem protests going all the way back to 2016 when he said that former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick should &#8220;get the hell out&#8221; of the United States if he wants to disrespect the country. Over the summer, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, Ditka repeated this sentiment.
&#8220;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,&#8221; said Ditka. &#8220;I think there’s a way you protest and a way you don’t protest. You don’t protest against the flag and you don’t protest against this country who’s given you the opportunity to make a living playing a sport that you never thought would happen. So, I don’t want to hear all the crap. You wanna try it, try it. You don’t, it’s okay.&#8221;
As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nfl-season-opener-ratings-lower-than-2019s">reported</a> last week, ratings for the NFL season opener for Thursday Night Football were markedly lower than those of the previous year, though it&#8217;s not clear if anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests played into the decline in viewership.
“The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs’ 34-20 victory over the Houston Texans averaged about 19.3 million viewers on NBC, according to preliminary ratings,” reported The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s down about 13 percent from the 22.12 million who watched last year’s kickoff, but ahead of the 19 million who tuned in for the 2018 kickoff.”
RELATED:<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-mike-ditka-on-kneeling-during-anthem-if-you-cant-respect-our-national-anthem-get-the-hell-out-of-the-country"> WATCH: Mike Ditka On Kneeling During Anthem: ‘If You Can’t Respect Our National Anthem, Get The Hell Out Of The Country’</a>

Atlanta Falcons v Chicago Bears

WATCH: Coach Mike Ditka Triples Down Against National Anthem Protests: ‘Go To Another Country’ If You Don’t Like It

Mike Ditka

National Anthem

Speaking to <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2020/07/26/mike-ditka-x-league-national-anthem-protests-womens-football/">TMZ Sports</a>, legendary NFL coach and tight end Mike Ditka, who will be the chairman of the female tackle football X League, pulled no punches when asked what his position was on kneeling during the national anthem. Ditka snapped, “If you can&#8217;t respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country.”
&#8220;The whole kneeling thing in the NFL —you’ve got guys saying that they’re gonna do it,&#8221; the TMZ interviewer asked. &#8220;I’m seeing all these baseball players now, different teams. Last night watching baseball you got the Reds kneeling, the A’s, the Giants, lots of teams are kneeling, athletes kneeling. In your league here —you’re the chairman of this thing — is that going to be allowed if the women want to take a knee during the anthem? What’s the policy on that for you guys?&#8221;
Ditka, who played for the NFL champion Chicago Bears in 1963, later won a Super Bowl as a player with the Dallas Cowboys, won the Super Bowl as coach of the Bears in 1985, and was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1988, answered:
<blockquote>If it was up to me I’d say no. If you can&#8217;t respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country. That&#8217;s the way I feel. Of course, I&#8217;m old fashioned, so I&#8217;m only going to say what I feel. I think there’s a way you protest and a way you don’t protest. You don’t protest against the flag and you don’t protest against this country who’s given you the opportunity to make a living playing a sport that you never thought would happen. So, I don’t want to hear all the crap. You wanna try it, try it. You don’t, it’s okay.</blockquote>
Commenting on his league, which will feature 8 teams in major markets like L.A., Chicago and Seattle, Ditka, one of only two men to win the Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach, said:
<blockquote>Women play every sport there is in the country except football, so why not football? And that’s what it is; it’s a league where these women have a lot of talent and are pretty good athletes. They like to play football. I mean, it’s strange, but it’s only strange in the sense that it hasn’t happened yet, But it’s gonna happen. I think when it does happen, I think people will really enjoy it.
These are talented athletes; they’re more than just hitting each other. They’re talented athletes. It’ll be fun to watch. Being honest with you, I can’t tell you exactly how it’s going to go. But me as a fan, as a football fan, I would like to see them play. I don’t know how it’ll be; it might be great; it might not be. But I think it’ll be interesting.
Who thought that women boxing each other would be great? Or wrestling with each other? I think it’s a physical thing, but I think football appeals to so many people, and then seeing women playing the game and playing not only with skill, it’ll be fun to watch.</blockquote>
The TMZ interviewer noted that in some sports like MMA and UFC, sometimes the women’s version is more popular than the men’s. He asked Ditka if that could happen with women’s football. Ditka replied:
<blockquote>It’ll never get more popular than men’s, but still, it can be very popular. And why not? If women want to play a man’s sport — and I call football a man’s sport —go ahead and do it. And if they’re gonna knock the crap out of each other, more power to ’em, because that’s what people want to see. And I don’t say that to be &#8216;smart,&#8217; I’m saying it because that’s what they want to see. These women are pretty and good looking and want to knock the crap out of each other — we&#8217;ll see how it works!</blockquote>
Video below:
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Super Bowl LIV – San Francisco 49ers v Kansas City Chiefs

WATCH: Mike Ditka On Kneeling During Anthem: ‘If You Can’t Respect Our National Anthem, Get The Hell Out Of The Country’

Chicago Bears

Football

Patriotism

Ahead of the NFL&#8217;s Monday Night Football kickoff, legendary coach Mike Ditka weighed in on the national anthem protest that has come to dominate so much of the coverage of the league. To put it mildly, the former Bears coach is not a fan of what he and many Americans perceive as a display of disrespect for the U.S. by wealthy, privileged NFL players.
Speaking with NBC&#8217;s Jim Gray, Ditka explained why he thinks millionaire football stars of all races and creeds have no reasons to protest the flag:
&#8220;There has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of,&#8221; he <a href="http://nypost.com/2017/10/10/mike-ditka-sounds-off-on-anthem-protests-go-to-another-country/">said</a>. &#8220;Now maybe I&#8217;m not watching it as carefully as other people. I think the opportunity is there for everybody &#8212; race, religion, creed, color, nationality. If you want to work, if you want to try, if you want to put effort in, you can accomplish anything.&#8221;
Predictably, suggesting there&#8217;s been &#8220;no oppression in the last 100 years&#8221; has been met with fury, many pointing to racial segregation as a glaring example.
Ditka went on to suggest that protest is fine, but shouldn&#8217;t be done before or during an NFL game, especially since football has served these players well.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not condemning anybody or criticizing anybody. Respect the game. Play the game,&#8221; he stated. &#8220;When you want to protest, protest when the game is over. Football has been so good to these guys. Enjoy it. Have fun with it.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s the stage for protests, I&#8217;m sorry,&#8221; added the coach.
If Ditka was still coaching in the NFL, he made clear that he would not tolerate the disrespect of our anthem from his players.
<blockquote>
Yes, I don&#8217;t care who you are, how much money you make. If you don&#8217;t respect our country, then you shouldn&#8217;t be in this country playing football. Go to another country and play football. If you had to go somewhere else and try to play the sport, you wouldn&#8217;t have a job.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
If you don&#8217;t respect this flag and this country, then you don&#8217;t know what this is all about. I would say, adios.
</blockquote>

Mike Ditka On NFL Kneelers: ‘Go To Another Country’

Racism

TMZ caught up with legendary sports commentator Mike Ditka to get his opinion on athletes not standing for the national anthem, specifically on 9/11:
<blockquote>
TMZ REPORTER: Is it disrespectful to not stand for the national anthem on the day, on the anniversary of hundreds of first responders dying trying to rescue innocent civilians who were attacked by terrorists?
DITKA: Well, you know the answer to that. Yeah, of course it is, but people are gonna do what they want to do. This is a different generation of people. In other words, they think a lot of things don&#8217;t apply to them, but hey, it is what it is. People are entitled, they got a right to do anything they want to do as long as they don&#8217;t break the law, or hurt people.
If their protest is gonna be that, fine, it&#8217;s gonna be that. But don&#8217;t forget now, that&#8217;s a minority. So, for the majority, people are gonna understand what 9/11 meant, what this country stands for, the values that we have, and they&#8217;re gonna go in that direction.
You can&#8217;t stop everybody. There [are] always going to be some malcontents. Let them be malcontents, let them do their thing, and they&#8217;ll move on, nobody will think about it, nobody will remember who they were. The fact that they didn&#8217;t stand for the national anthem, that&#8217;s their own &#8211; you know, they have a right to do that. They have a right to do anything they wanna do. I just disagree with it.
TMZ REPORTER: Is this one day though that you would like to see the &#8211; even though you have the right &#8211; you&#8217;d like to see the protest put on hold?
DITKA: I&#8217;d like to see it put on hold every day. I mean, there is a time and place for everything. Before a football game is not the time and place for it, period.
TMZ REPORTER: What would the short message be to anybody who is thinking about not standing for the anthem Monday night?
DITKA: God bless America.
</blockquote>
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WATCH: Mike Ditka Responds To National Anthem Protests

On Friday, <a href="http://www.espn.com/sportsnation/chicago/halloffame/jersey?id=6854764">Super Bowl-winning coach and NFL Hall of Famer</a> Mike Ditka appeared on Dallas radio show The Fan, where he sounded off on Colin Kaepernick&#8217;s national anthem protest, which has quickly consumed the nation. 
Let&#8217;s just say the former tight end is not a fan of Kaepernick&#8217;s anti-American stunt.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a problem,&#8221; <a href="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/09/23/mike-ditka-to-colin-kaepernick-if-you-dont-like-the-country-get-the-hell-out/">said </a>Ditka. &#8220;Anybody who disrespects this country and the flag. If they don&#8217;t like the country, they don&#8217;t like our flag, get the hell out.
&#8220;I have no respect for Colin Kaepernick,&#8221; he added. &#8220;He probably has no respect for me, that&#8217;s his choice.&#8221;
In late August, the backup 49er QB decided to sit during the playing of our national anthem to protest the alleged systemic racism of law enforcement and the country as a whole for supposedly condoning the &#8220;murder&#8221; of blacks and other minorities. 
&#8220;I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,&#8221; Kaepernick <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/8708/nfls-colin-kaepernick-i-refuse-stand-national-amanda-prestigiacomo">told </a>the press. &#8220;To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.&#8221;
Ditka, on the other hand, doesn&#8217;t see the racist America Kaepernick illustrates in order to justify his protest. 
&#8220;My choice is that I like this country, I respect our flag, and I don&#8217;t see all the atrocities going on in this country that people say are going on,&#8221; the former Bears coach told The Fan.
Black Lives Matter, the mainstream media, Kaepernick, and others have pushed the narrative that blacks are being targeted by cops because of the color their skin and &#8220;murdered&#8221; for sport. They have used a number of cases of justified police shootings to help deceptively advance their dangerous narrative&#8212;of course, storyline adjustments have been created along the way (See: &#8220;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/03/16/lesson-learned-from-the-shooting-of-michael-brown/?utm_term=.2c6c83312f4a">Hands up, don&#8217;t shoot</a>&#8221; lie).
But the truth is, <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/7264/5-statistics-you-need-know-about-cops-killing-aaron-bandler">statistics and facts</a> of exploited cases do not match such a narrative.
Of course, Kaepernick, et al. still have the right to peacefully protest and voice their opinion in this beautifully free country. But it doesn&#8217;t change the fact that disrespecting those who&#8217;ve died for our freedom by sitting during the anthem will almost always upset more Americans than advance your cause.

Mike Ditka Was Asked About Kaepernick’s National Anthem Protest—Let’s Just Say He’s Not A Fan

Colin Kaepernick

Sports

Former Chicago Bears player and head coach Mike Ditka slammed President Barack Obama as the worst president. Naturally, ESPN punished him for exercising his freedom of speech.
In a radio interview on The Bernie and Sid Show on Thursday, Ditka <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2016/03/04/mike-ditka-obama-is-the-worst-president-weve-ever-had/">declared:</a> &#8220;Obama is the worst president we&#8217;ve ever had.&#8221;
&#8220;He would be great to play golf with. He&#8217;s not a leader,&#8221; Ditka said. &#8220;This country needs leadership. It needs direction. It needs somebody that steps up front. We need somebody like Ronald Reagan.&#8221;
Shortly after Ditka made these innocuous comments, ESPN <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2016/03/09/espn-demotes-ditka-after-hall-of-famer-calls-obama-worst-president-weve-ever-had/">removed</a> Ditka from their NFL Sunday Countdown morning program. Recently retired quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will take Ditka&#8217;s spot on the program, while Ditka will remain as an employee on ESPN in a more limited capacity.
The sports network was tight-lipped on whether Ditka&#8217;s criticism of Obama factored in their decision to demote Ditka, but there&#8217;s plenty of reason to believe that it did. ESPN has a history of censoring their employees for engaging in political speech that runs counter to their far-left views. For instance, ESPN <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/08/25/espn-suspends-curt-schilling-for-comparing-islamists-to-nazis/">suspended</a> former pitcher Curt Schilling in August for tweeting that radical Islamists are comparable to Nazis&#8211;which is accurate. The network is also looking into Schilling&#8217;s <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/03/03/curt-schillings-comments-on-hillary-clinton-land-him-in-hot-water-with-espn.html">comments</a> on Kansas City radio station 610 Sports that he would be &#8220;stunned and upset&#8221; if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton isn&#8217;t in prison by the general election.
&#8220;If I&#8217;m going to believe, and I don&#8217;t have any reason not to believe, that she gave classified information on hundreds, if not thousands, of emails on a public server after what happened to General [David] Petraeus, she should be buried under a jail somewhere,&#8221; Schilling said.
ESPN&#8217;s political censorship doesn&#8217;t apply to leftists. Back in October, ESPN host Tony Kornheiser <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/27/espn-tight-lipped-over-whether-it-will-punish-host-for-comparing-tea-party-to-isis/">compared</a> the Tea Party to ISIS, and no action was taken by ESPN against him.
<blockquote>
&#8220;MSNBC with spherical and oblong projectiles.&#8221;
Ben Shapiro on ESPN
</blockquote>
The Daily Wire editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro has referred to ESPN as <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/1009/white-privilege-media-ignore-black-eighth-graders-ben-shapiro">&#8220;MSNBC with spherical and oblong projectiles,&#8221; </a>which is truly fitting since the far-left politico wannabes at the network were aghast that Ditka would criticize their dear leader Obama.