Former Oakland Raider and New York Jets player, Burgess Owens, weighed in on the NFL Anthem controversy this weekend on “Fox & Friends,” with Osi Umenyoria describing it as, “unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”
Over the past few days, President Trump has addressed the rapid spread of the Colin kaepernick style kneeling protest. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired. He’s fired,” Trump asked during a recent rally in Alabama.
On Sunday, the President doubled down, tweeting, “If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our flag and country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!”
The President’s remarks drew sharp criticism from the usual quarters, with athletes from Lebron James to Stephen Curry, and even Roger Goodell condemning Trump’s comments. Individual NFL franchises and owners also issued assorted statements on the controversy. “What you just saw was a variety of responses with the theme of unity,” an NFL representative told CNN. “All across the league, owners, coaches and players came together to decide what was best for them.” The NFL rep added, “If Trump thought he could divide the NFL, he was wrong.”
On Fox, this weekend, Burgess Owens let loose on the anthem protesters. “Let me tell you about what our responsibility is” began, “every generation has done this throughout the history of our country, is to give our kids more hope than we had. My parents’ generation, my grandparents’ generation succeeded [in sowing hope]. That’s how they fought racism.”
Owens continued, “It’s really time for us to stand up as men and say: ‘Listen guys, this country gives us everything we want and if I did it, you can do it too.’ And stop the whole thing…if you wanna have demonstrations, demonstrate someplace else, but not against our flag that gives us the freedom to be the greatest people in the history of mankind.”
The protests during the NFL games that took place this Sunday were “unlike anything I’ve ever seen before”, expressed Osi Umenyiora, a two-time Super Bowl winner.
Interestingly, Owens has been very vocal about race issues in the past, he even spoke out during the protest in St. Louis when a former cop was acquitted for a crime in relation to shooting death of a black man. Owens argued, “What’s happening here is actually a purposeful process to divide us. Those who like to call everybody as racists, keep in mind, they’re the racists and they will continue to divide us with their negative focus… We win this thing together. That’s what America is all about.”
