Ex-NFL star encourages American Olympians to 'pipe down' and 'respect the flag'
Ex-NFL star Boomer Esiason said Tuesday that American Olympians "should just pipe down" as several competitors garnered backlash for speaking out on hotly debated political topics in the U.S. while in Italy.
Esiason was on his daily WFAN Radio show with Greg Giannotti. The former Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets star said he was watching Team USA figure skating win gold in one event over the weekend. Giannotti asked whether they were "happy to represent America."
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"They seem to be happy to represent America," Esiason said. "Not everybody is, but everybody should just pipe down and just do their sport and play for our country and respect the flag and respect everything that’s going on."
American skiers Hunter Hess and Chris Lillis stirred controversy over the weekend with their comments.
Hess said he had "mixed emotions" about competing for Team USA.
"It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t," Hess said.
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"I think, for me, it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.
"I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here."
Hess backtracked in a social media post on Monday after President Donald Trump called him a "real loser."
Lillis said that while he "would never" want to represent another country in the Games, he’s "heartbroken" over the administration’s actions, regarding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota.
"I love the USA. I would never want to represent a different country in the Olympics. With that being said, a lot of times, athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things.
"I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States. I’m pretty sure you’re referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that," he continued. "I think that, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect. I hope that when people look at athletes compete in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the America we’re trying to represent."
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
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