Mike Ditka Tells Kaepernick To ‘Get The Hell Out’ If He Doesn’t Like America

Nation Football League Hall of Fame coach Mike Ditka has some words for the San Francisco 49ers’ Quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick has taken to kneeling during the national anthem in racial divides in America.

“I think it’s a problem, anybody who disrespects this country and the flag,” Ditka told KRLD radio in Dallas, reports The Guardian. “If they don’t like the country, if they don’t like our flag, get the hell out. That’s what I think.”

Ditka then continued:

I have no respect for Colin Kaepernick. He probably has no respect for me, that’s his choice. My choice is that I like this country, I respect our flag, and I don’t see all the atrocities going on in this country that people say are going on.

I see opportunities if people want to look for opportunity. Now if they don’t want to look for them, then you can find problems with anything, but this is the land of opportunity because you can be anything you want to be if you work. Now if you don’t work, that’s a different problem.

In 2004, Ditka toyed with the idea of running for a US Senate seat vacated by Peter Fitzgerald. The seat was ultimately filled by then-state senator Barack Obama, but the decision still haunts Ditka.

“Biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” he said in 2013. “Not that I would have won, but I probably would have and he wouldn’t be in the White House.”

Then, in March 2016, Ditka called Obama “the worst president we’ve ever had”.

“Barack Obama is a fine man,” Ditka said. “He’s pleasant, he’d be great to play golf with. He’s not a leader.”

According to Yahoo News, Kaepernick has pledged $1 million to Bay Area community charities, with the 49ers Foundation following suit.

“It’s something to make sure that I wasn’t just talking about something, but being involved and actively trying to make a change in these communities,” Kaepernick said of the pledge, notes Uproxx. “I’ve been very blessed to be in this position and make the kind of money I do. I have to help these people. 22 military vets a day commit suicide, but this country will let the vets go and fight the war for them but when they come back they won’t do anything to try to help him. That’s another issue. These issues need to be addressed.”

Sources: The Guardian, Yahoo News, Uproxx / Photo Credit: WEBN-TV via Flickr