Former NFL player calls out league over decision to play 'black national anthem'

Burgess Owens, a former NFL player and GOP candidate for Congress in Utah, recently tweeted his frustration over the NFL's decision to air the "black national anthem" before the traditional star-spangled banner anthem, before each game this season.

On Thursday, Owens tweeted, “There is no ‘black national anthem.’ Why does it feel like the country is trying to segregate again sometimes?”

The NFL made the announcement recently that they will be playing the song Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing at the beginning of games this season, The Star Spangled Banner will follow.

The song dates back to 1905 and is based off a 1900 poem written by James Weldon Johnson. Johnson was an early leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).

Owens was responding to the the NFL’s announcement that it intends to begin playing the song, Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing, a song that many blacks have taken to calling “the black national anthem.”

As of late, some people have been referring to the song as the 'black national anthem' which is why it was selected by the NFL.

Owens has also been critical of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick for his decision to kneel during the national anthem, referring to the former San Fransico 49ers player as a "Marxist."

“If Goodell allows Kaepernick to come back, if they allow players to kneel during the national anthem, I’m willing to not watch the game,” said Owens last month in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

“We have too many Americans now accepting the notion that the flag should be a place where people should be ashamed of or take a knee, that’s what it comes down to,” said Owens. “I am disappointed that so many people are acquiescing today. They don’t understand the American way; they don’t understand the price paid. They need to understand that we can’t be bullied and [also] that we’re not an evil country. There is no other country in the world with the mixing of races and tolerance. We have to change the current narrative.”

“If it was a meritocracy, he would be out there anyway; he would work hard; he would prove himself,” Owens continued. “He wouldn’t be taking someone else’s position. We’re looking at Affirmative Action for a Marxist. We’re approving their ideology.