Joe Namath pulled out the oldest trick in the book in response to Mike Ditka’s national anthem protest bashing.

If Ditka believes the United States has seen “no oppression in the last 100 years” and therefore NFL players have no right to kneel before the flag, as he said on the set of “Monday Night Football,” Namath suggests he dust off his dictionary.

“Look up the meaning of oppression,” the legendary Jets quarterback said on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday. “Look up the definition of oppression, and you understand that it’s obviously taken place.”

Namath made the point most have forgotten in light of President Donald Trump’s attack on players’ protests, that the movement began last year with former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the anthem to raise awareness of racial inequality and prejudice in this country. After Week 3, in which every NFL team made a statement during the anthem in response to Trump’s fiery comments, Kaepernick’s original sentiment has been turned into a debate over respecting the American flag.

“Going back to what Colin Kaepernick initially did, it was to point out some injustice that’s being done to the black race,” Namath said. “Or to people that obviously when you look — and I say obviously, some of these dash cams and shootings that were done to unarmed people. He was reaching out to try to get it more investigated. So that’s where this oppression thing comes in.”

While Namath conceded NFL owners are allowed to prohibit protests in the “workplace,” he did not condone Ditka’s plea that players leave the country if they don’t respect this one and the opportunity they have to play football.

“Yes, I don’t care who you are, how much money you make,” Ditka said as a guest in the booth during the Bears-Vikings game Monday night. “If you don’t respect our country, then you shouldn’t be in this country playing football. Go to another country and play football.”