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by Joe Callen Former legendary NFL player and coach Mike Ditka on Tuesday that he can't for the life of him understand why football players are protesting police brutality and racial injustice by refusing to stand for the national anthem. And he's got a message for them they aren't going to like one bit: "If you can't respect this country, get the hell out of it," Ditka said on "National Report." "It’s not a complicated thing," he said. "You play the game, you enjoy the game, if you don’t like the game, get out of it." He added, "You play football,...

Mike Ditka has apologized for saying he wasn’t aware of any racial oppression over the last 100 years in the United States. The famed Chicago Bears coach came under fire for making the comments during a radio interview on Monday about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. He issued an apology the next day, saying he was talking about professional football and not society as a whole. “I have absolutely seen oppression in society in the last 100 years,” the Hall of Fame tight end and Super Bowl-winning coach said to WGN-TV in Chicago. “The interview was about the...

Mike Ditka, the former coach of the Chicago Bears, two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time NFL Coach of the Year, said if one of his players took a knee during the National Anthem, they would never “play for me ever again.” He also said young players, such as San Franciso 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, need to show respect for the game that has given them so much and stop “acting like a bunch of fools out there.” […] “Well, here’s the thing. When we live in a society that pays attention to athletes, say, as greatly as they do to...

Alternate headline: “Ditka wraps up 2020 Republican nomination.” “I think it’s a problem,” Ditka said. “Anybody who disrespects this country and the flag. If they don’t like the country, they don’t like our flag, get the hell out.”…“I have no respect for Colin Kaepernick,” Ditka added. “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.” That’s as pure as nationalism gets. What does he think of Richard Sherman’s press...

Former Bears coach Mike Ditka is a very conservative human being. There is no debating this. So it wouldn't be surprising to see him come down on the opposite side of Colin Kaepernick when it comes to the 49ers quarterback's protest against the national anthem and the American flag. But Ditka's got a pretty aggressive message for Kap, one he delivered while interviewing with CBS Sports Radio affiliate 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, saying he can "get the hell out" of America if he doesn't "like our flag." "I think it's a problem...anybody who disrespects this country and the flag,"...

With many prominent Republicans ducking out of the GOP convention next month in Cleveland, presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump has lined up a slew of sports figures and musicians to appear, including former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka.Bloomberg on Tuesday reported that Trump campaign aides have lined up former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, Ditka, former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight and NASCAR chief Brian France.

Sports network ESPN is yanking NFL legend Mike Ditka from its marquee football show "Sunday NFL Countdown," giving him an "unspecified emeritus-type NFL role at the network," sports website The Big Lead reports. Matt Hasselbeck and Charles Woodson will take over for the exiting Ditka and former first overall pick Keyshawn Johnson. Ditka has given several interviews in support of Republican front-runner Donald Trump, the last one over the weekend, when he called President Barack Obama "the worst president we've ever had" — and said he'd vote for Trump.

In January, a Deadspin report uncovered a leaked ESPN memo, urging on-air talent to avoid making political statements. The memo — which ESPN claims was circulated in early January — requires employees to “refrain from political editorializing, personal attacks or ‘drive-by’ comments regarding the candidates and their campaigns (including but not limited to on platforms such as Twitter or other social media). (RELATED: ESPN Shuts Down Curt Schilling For Conservative Views)

Super Bowl winning NFL tight end and coach Mike Ditka reacted to Romney, establishment attack to take down Trump on WABC-AM's The Bernie and Sid Show at the end of the week. Ditka said the country needs someone like Donald Trump to follow Barack Obama and that is why he is voting for Donald Trump. "This country needs leadership," Ditka told hosts Sid Rosenberg and Bernard McGuirk. "It needs direction. It needs somebody that steps up front. We need somebody like Ronald Reagan." "If I were to vote tomorrow, I'd probably vote for Trump," Ditka said.

If you saw a Native American walking across the street, would you yell out, “Hey, Redskin, you dropped your hat’’? I don’t believe you would, no matter how strongly you feel that the Washington Redskins should be able to keep their nickname. And I don’t believe Mike Ditka would, either, even though he has come out strongly on the side of intolerance, whether he realizes it or not. The say-anything coach went off on those of us who want to see the Redskins nickname go the way of medical bloodletting. In an interview with RedskinsHistorian.com — you always save up...

ESPN has a nasty habit of suspending people who they hire to share opinions. Stephen A. Smith was recently suspended for daring to suggest a woman shouldn’t antagonize her violent husband. You would think this is common sense. If a woman knows her man is violent and knows what will trigger him, it’s probably not a good idea to antagonize him. That doesn’t let husband off the hook of course and Smith so much as said so. Max Kellerman admitted on the air he hit his girlfriend years ago (it was in context of the NFL’s Ray Rice suspension, which...

He regrets not taking on the President in the 2004 for Illinois Senate seat: “He probably wouldn’t be in the White House” Gruff Mike Ditka, the former head coach of the National Football League’s Chicago Bears and a commentator for ESPN, wishes he had called one more running play. Specifically, he said this week that he regrets not running against President Obama in the 2004 Illinois Senate race and called it “the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”

ESPN NFL analyst Mike Ditka is in the hospital after suffering a minor stroke on Friday.

I understand Sarah Palin spoke here last year. I admire her. She’s a great lady, mother and wife, and that’s more important than the [bull****] the media spreads about her. ~ Coach Mike Ditka By Gary P Jackson Legendary football coach Mike Ditka knows a winner when he sees one and in Sarah Palin, he sees a true winner. As AWR Hawkins over at Andrew Breitbart’s Big Journalism points out, if you rely on America’s corrupt, lamestream media, you’d never know this. Now why would the media want to suppress news of one of America’s most beloved sports figures praise...

While speaking at the Washington Area Community Center’s Lessons for Leaders (Washington, IL) on August 6, Coach Mike Ditka lambasted the mainstream media (MSM) and heaped praise on Gov. Sarah Palin. Said Ditka: “I understand Sarah Palin spoke here last year. I admire her. She’s a great lady, mother and wife, and that’s more important than the [bull****] the media spreads about her.” Ditka has offered up a strong defense of Palin before. For instance, in 2010, during an interview on Fox and Friends, he said “Sarah Palin is one of the greatest people I’ve ever met.” When he stumped...

Mike Ditka went out of his way to praise Sarah Palin and scold the media yesterday during his Lessons from Leaders keynote address in Washington, IL...

WASHINGTON — Mike Ditka began his Lessons from Leaders keynote address Saturday night at Five Points Washington with an expletive-sprinkled remark about the first speaker in the series. "I understand Sarah Palin spoke here last year. I admire her," Ditka said. "She's a great lady, mother and wife, and that's more important than the bull**** the media spreads about her." Ditka softened the tone of his comments for the rest of his talk and a question-and-answer session, which lasted about an hour. The former Chicago Bears coach and player talked about football, politics, his admiration for Abraham Lincoln, and his...

Mike Ditka on a lockout: "I just can't believe anybody is that stupid"Posted by Michael David Smith July 23, 2010 9:33 AM ET Mike Ditka understands the labor side of things as a longtime NFL tight end, and he understands the management side of things as a former head coach. And he says he can't fathom how labor and management can't reach a deal to make sure there's football in 2011 and beyond. "I hear that [lockout] talk and I just can't believe anybody is that stupid," Ditka said Thursday on ESPN Radio in Chicago. "If the owners or the...

Too many in Congress and the Senate appear to be there for the wrong reasons. Some have made their fortunes and now want to be a part of the most exclusive club on Earth. Some go there to enrich themselves. Some are there because they want to some day be President We would be better served by representatives who are there AGAINST their will, who were badgered or even shamed into taking the job. In a way, I’m describing what happened to George Washington. He refused the overture toward making him a monarch and he did not want a second...

It's time for some "CHANGE" in how we nominate Republicans http://www.MikeDitkaForSenate.com There's a great new video at the site (bottom of page). Please sign the petition linked at the bottom.