title: MIKE DITKA SLAMS NFL Players: “No Oppression In Last 100 Years”…”If You Don’t Respect Our Country, Then You Shouldn’t Be In This Country Playing Football”
text: Wow! Former Bears coach Mike Ditka is coming under fire from the liberal media and Black Lives Matter activists for saying there has been  no oppression in the last 100 years .Former Chicago Bears star and coach Mike Ditka, an adamant critic of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial discrimination, said Monday in a national radio interview that this country has been free of oppression for at least a century. All of a sudden, it s become a big deal now, about oppression,  Ditka told Jim Gray on Westwood One s pregame show ahead of the Bears   Monday Night Football  loss to the Vikings.  There has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of. Now maybe I m not watching it as carefully as other people. As a side note, the now unemployed and clearly  oppressed  49 ers QB, Colin Kaepernick who started kneeling to show his unity with the anti-cop, Black Lives Matter movement, listed his humble abode in San Jose, CA, 10 months ago, for a mere $2.9 million.According to Realtor.com, the gated four-bedroom, 5.5-bath estate features 4,500 square feet of living space on a 20,000-square-foot secluded lot with a long private driveway and expansive views of the valley.Ditka continued: Is that the stage for this? If you want to protest, or whatever you want to protest, you ve got a right to do that, but I think you re a professional athlete, you have an obligation to the game,  Ditka said.  I think you have to respect the game. That s what I think is the most important thing. I don t see a lot of respect for the game. I just see respect for their own individual opinions. Opinions are like noses, we all have one. Some are good. Some are bad. Ditka insisted he wasn t  condemning anybody or criticizing anybody  but urged players to  protest when the game s over, protest whatever other way you want to  and said he would bench players who insisted on demonstrating during the anthem because it s disrespectful. If you don t respect our country, then you shouldn t be in this country playing football,  he said.  Go to another country and play football. If you had to go somewhere else to try to play the sport, you wouldn t have a job. So that would be my take. If you can t respect the flag and the country, then you don t respect what this is all about. So I would say, adios. Gray cited athletes such as Muhammad Ali and Jesse Owens who have taken on social injustices, but Ditka was unmoved. I don t know what social injustices have been,  Ditka said.  Muhammad Ali rose to the top. Jesse Owens is one of the classiest individuals that ever lived. I mean, you can say,  Are you (saying) everything is based on color?  I don t see it that way. I think that you have to be color blind in this country. You ve got to look at a person for what he is and what he stands for and how he produces, not by the color of his skin. That has never had anything to do with anything. Ditka said there are opportunities for everyone in the United States, regardless of race, religion, creed, color, nationality  if you want to work, if you want to try, if you want to put effort into yourself. I think you can accomplish anything, and we have watched that throughout our history of our country. People rise to the top and they became very influential people in our country by doing the right things.   Trib LiveMost of America gets what Ditka is trying to say when he says there has been  no oppression for 100 years . He s clearly referring to the era of slavery. The idea, however, that Ditka would point out that slavery ended 100 years ago, and that we are, and have been, for decades, a nation of equal opportunity for all, was more than the left and the liberal media could bear. Here are just a few of their responses to Ditka s remarks:Mike Ditka said that, Black folks have not suffered, "any oppression over last 100 years.  and Mike Ditka was alive during the Jim Crow era  LEFT  (@LeftSentThis) October 10, 2017Just heard Mike Ditka say on a radio interview that there hasn t been oppression in the US in 100 years. Did he play with a helmet on?  Ducis Rodgers (@duciswild) October 10, 2017There were also plenty of supporters for Mike Ditka who applauded his courage for speaking out on the players who disprspect our flag:Legendary NFL coach Mike Ditka going off on NFL anthem protests last night!   pic.twitter.com/JITKhw4y5k   Patriot 24/7  (@TrumpTrain45Pac) October 10, 2017I agree Mike Ditka!Pampered #NFL divas have NO knowledge of American history or awareness of how hard middle America works#TuesdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/549cVs91ff  CC (@ChristiChat) October 10, 2017