John Elway, when he was the quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

(CNSNews.com) -- John Elway, a two-time Super Bowl quarterback champion and now the vice president of operations for the Denver Broncos, issued a statement about the NFL protests saying that it's time to "take the politics out of football," and that he is "one that believes in standing for the National Anthem" and that he also believes America "is the greatest country in the world."

"I'm one that believes in standing for the National Anthem, and I've always believed that," said Elway in the statement, which he tweeted on Sept. 26. "I believe this is the greatest country in the world."

(Image: Twitter @Broncos)

"We are very fortunate to live here," he said, "but it's obviously not perfect. There are a lot of things that need to be corrected, and we will continue to work on those things."

"I'm one that really believes in standing for the flag," said Elway, who played for the Denver Broncos from 1983 to 1998. "I understand the players and the way they felt from the comments that were made earlier in the week. They felt they had to go down and kneel and that's up to them."

"Hopefully as we go forward we can start concentrating on football a little bit more," said Elway.

"Take the politics out of football," he said.

"But I think that last week was a good show of unity by the NFL and hopefully this week we can move forward," said the Super Bowl MVP (XXXIII).

During his NFL career, John Elway had a then-record 148 victories. In addition to two Super Bowls, Elway was a nine-time Pro-Bowl winner, and was the NFL Most Valuable Player in 1987. Elway was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.