Former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman leveled a big-time haymaker, in a manner of speaking, to former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other like-minded athletes who won’t stand for the national anthem before games and refuse to visit the White House after championships.

Foreman said in an interview Monday with the Offended America Podcast that “a lot of us died in war so that [Kaepernick] could have that privilege” of taking a knee when “The Star-Spangled Banner” is played.

“The greatest day of my life was when I put on my colors, representing the United States in the Olympics,” Foreman said, recalling his boxing gold medal in 1968. “I love the United States. I love the flag. But there are a lot of people who haven’t found that reason. They don’t strive. They haven’t been brought up with people who were patriotic to even point them in the right direction.”