Boxing legend George Foreman entered the political ring this week to address national anthem protests in the NFL and NBA players who say they would refuse to meet President Trump at the White House.

The man behind the “George Foreman Grill” was interviewed for Monday’s “Offended America” podcast and showed no hesitation when asked about Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant, or national anthem protests inspired by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The 68-year-old former heavyweight champion said today’s sports stars do not value of patriotism and lash out to get attention.

“I love the United States,” Mr. Foremantold hosts Jacob Wohl and Hunter Avallone, Fox News Channel reported Tuesday. “They haven’t been brought up with people who were patriotic … A lot of people died so that they can have that privilege … Today, there’s nothing to sell about anyone. A lot of guys say, ‘look, I got all this money but no one knows me.’”

This isn’t the first time Big George, who won the heavyweight championship in two different “careers” separated by a decade-long retirement, has trumpeted patriotism while other black athletes did not.

After winning the gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics by TKO’ing a favored Soviet fighter, Mr. Foreman walked around the ring displaying a tiny U.S. flag. Just days earlier, sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos had raised their fists in a Black Power salute on the medal stand.

In this week’s interview, Mr. Foreman eventually turned his attention to the president, at which point he recounted financial troubles in the early 1990s. He credited Mr. Trump’s promotion of a fight with Evander Holyfield in 1991 with his ability to recover from bankruptcy.

“I’ll always be grateful for the entrepreneur Donald Trump — and now President Donald Trump,” Mr. Foreman said. “I’m sorry, you have to be careful now days. He’s a good president. A lot of people don’t like him, but evidently more do because he’s the president of the United States … I had little and hardly no hope at all. What a privilege. He promoted that show down there.”