Burgess Owens won a Super Bowl with the Oakland Raiders in 1980.

If the National Football League (NFL) doesn’t respect the American flag, “Let’s show them how important it is,” former NFL star safety Burgess Owens told CNSNews.com in an exclusive interview.

Owens, who played for the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets, winning a Super Bowl with the Raiders, in his ten-year (1973-82) NFL career, is now a co-host of the Conservative Commandos Radio Show. In his first day of hosting the program, he granted CNSNews.com the opportunity to interview him about the current national controversy regarding players protesting the flag during the playing of the National Anthem before games.

Asked if he endorses the Media Research Center’s campaign calling on all Americans to stop watching NFL games and show the league that the country’s flag must be respected, Owens replied, “Sign me up”:

“Sign me up. Sign me up, yes.”

Owens said that he is thankful to be an American. He praised the way Americans have always voted with their pocketbooks - and said that boycotting NFL games is a golden opportunity to do so:

“Despite our differences, the flying of our flag during the National Anthem is the one time where all Americans come together. “So, yes, if the Left, the liberals, the socialists are now trying to say the flag’s not important, let’s show them how important it is. Let’s all turn it off. “Let’s show them, in a big way, in a massive fashion, they need to get their act together. And, if we do it right now, then they will get it right.”

If players aren’t willing to pay their respects during the Anthem, then they should just hide out in the locker room until game time, Owens said:

“And, if those cats don’t want to support and salute our flag, stay in the locker room. Don’t show their faces until it’s time for them to make their millions of dollars. “And, at some point, they might feel gratitude for the opportunity to come out and spend six months out of the year making millions and millions of dollars. Because, at the end of the day, this is the country that allows them to do that.”

Finally, Owens said that, if NFL players really do want to make a difference, they should get personally involved in their communities and promote positive messages: