Mike Ditka: Kneeling athletes should ‘"get the hell out of the country"

Mike Ditka says anthem kneeling protests are unpatriotic … and the NFL legend tells TMZ Sports if he had it his way, he wouldn’t allow the demonstrations in his new women’s football league.

The Hall of Famer is slated to be the chairman of the X League — a women’s tackle football org. that was previously known as the Legends Football League — and when we asked him if he’d be OK with protests during the national anthem, he straight-up said no.

“If you can’t respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country,” Ditka said. “That’s the way I feel. Of course, I’m old fashioned, so I’m only going to say what I feel.”