David Petraeus took a moment during an event Thursday to say that he was “disappointed” that football has become “politicized” as President Trump wages a war of words with players who kneel during the national anthem.
During a sit-down conversation with CNN’s Jake Tapper at an event organized by the Atlantic, Petraeus brought up a fellow former CIA director’s take on the issue.
“I have to say, I’m just sort of disappointed that, you know, now we have politicized football, you know, as Mike Hayden wrote in a wonderful op-ed the other day, it was the only two hours even when he was a CIA director they’d go to the games and [he’d] just lose himself in the game.”
Petraeus: Im disappointed that weve politicized football https://t.co/ys9FslJwoM— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) September 28, 2017
Petraeus, who is a retired Army general, said moving forward he hopes people will stop making political statements on the field.
“So in that sense, I’m just sort of disappointed,” he said. “I hope we can turn the volume down, turn the heat down and let’s get back to enjoying football and people not having to make political statements at the beginning of the games.”
