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Mike Ditka rips kneeling athletes: 'Get the hell out of the country' | TribLIVE.com
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Mike Ditka rips kneeling athletes: 'Get the hell out of the country'

Bret Gibson
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AP
Former NFL coach and University of Pittsburgh alumnus Mike Ditka speaks at a news conference in Pittsburgh.

Former NFL legend and Pitt Panther Mike Ditka has some unkind words for athletes and coaches who kneel for the national anthem.

In an interview with TMZ Sports about his women’s pro football X League, Ditka was asked if his players would be allowed to do it. He gave an emphatic “no” and urged those wanting to protest to leave the country.

“If you can’t respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country,” the Carnegie native 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. So I don’t want to hear all the crap.”

Ditka, 80, has been against the protests from the inception, saying in 2017, “There has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of.”

The Super Bowl-winning coach has been named the chairman of the X League, which used to be called Legends Football League. Although he isn’t in charge of making national anthem policies, he let it be known that he would force the players to participate in the national anthem if he could.

He said that a football game is “not a place” for football players to protest.

Bret Gibson is a TribLive digital producer. A South Hills resident, he started working for the Trib in 1998. He can be reached at bgibson@triblive.com.

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