Mike Ditka 'Embarrassed' For St. Louis Rams Players In Michael Brown Ferguson 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' NFL Stance

Former Chicago Bears coach and current ESPN TV personality Mike Ditka has taken a hardline stance against St. Louis Rams players who showed their solidarity with the family and friends of Ferguson police shooting victim Michael Brown with a "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" stance before their game against the Oakland Raiders Sunday, Nov. 30.

The players — Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, Chris Givens and Kenny Britt — all came out of the St. Louis tunnel before their Oakland game with their hands up in the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" protest gesture.

Elderly white man Ditka, however, doesn't think they should have. Saying that the Rams players should be "embarrassed" for their political stance — presumably against innocent people being shot by those charged to serve and protect them — the former NFL coach doesn't "want to hear about this hands-up crap" and adds that Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson's "life is ruined."

Mike Ditka on Ferguson. https://t.co/59tjB5PPLU pic.twitter.com/Ee2T2VW7Ca

— Sun-Times Sports (@suntimes_sports) December 2, 2014

Ditka told the Chicago Sun-Times for his weekly feature column:

"It's a shame this thing has come to this. The shame of it is, I'm not sure they care about Michael Brown or anything else. This was a reason to protest and to go out and loot. Is this the way to celebrate the memory of Michael Brown? Is this an excuse to be lawless? Somebody has to tell me that. I don't understand it. I understand what the Rams' take on this was. I'm embarrassed for the players more than anything. They want to take a political stand on this? Well, there are a lot of other things that have happened in our society that people have not stood up and disagreed about.

"I wasn't in Ferguson. I don't know exactly what happened. But I know one thing: If we dismantle and limit the power of our policemen any more than we have already, then we're going to have a lot of problems in this country.

"What do you do if someone pulls a gun on you or is robbing a store and you stop them? I don't want to hear about this hands-up crap. That's not what happened. I don't know exactly what did happen, but I know that's not what happened. This policeman's life is ruined. Why? Because we have to break somebody down. Because we have to even out the game. I don't know. I don't get it. Maybe I'm just old fashioned."

The NFL announced Monday, Dec. 1, that it would not be sanctioning the players involved, even after a request to do so came from the St. Louis Police Officers Association, as The New York Times reports. As ESPN points out, confusion still abounds as to whether or not the Rams apologized to St. Louis police.

Ditka, however, seems to feel like he knows what should and shouldn't be done ... even if he wasn't there and doesn't "know what exactly happened." The Super Bowl XX-wininng coach is "just old fashioned," remember.

You can watch the footage of the Rams players below: