Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw has a “problem” with football players boycotting the national anthem, because he says it further signals that the U.S. is losing its moral compass and “rotting from within.”

The former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback appeared on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday, tying the widespread national anthem protests started by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to a larger societal problem with immorality in America.

“I’ve never had a problem with people expressing themselves — it’s one thing great about our country and the First Amendment rights, everybody has them,” he said. “I don’t mind what Colin is doing, bringing attention to it. I don’t have a problem with that at all.”

Mr. Bradshaw said that while he doesn’t mind Mr. Kaepernick shining a light on racial injustice in America, he does “have a problem when people in this country don’t respect our flag and national anthem.”

“All you got to do is look around. This country’s getting worse and worse and more and more immoral and we’re rotting from within,” Mr. Bradshaw continued. “All great empires die from within. We can’t talk about Jesus. We can’t mention that anymore. So we say ‘I’m religious,’ because if we say Jesus, you automatically are pigeonholed and kicked off the desk.

“You can’t talk about it,” he said. “The two vice presidential guys are going at it and they are both saying what? They said, ‘Well, we’re religious’. What does that mean — you’re religious? Everybody is religious.”

Mr. Bradshaw added that he’s “worried” about the future of the country.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.