O.J. Simpson criticizes NFL players kneeling during anthem

O.J. Simpson is firmly against NFL players protesting during the national anthem, he revealed during his first sit-down interview in years.

Speaking with The Buffalo News, his former football team's hometown paper, the disgraced actor and NFL hall of famer said he agreed with Donald Trump as far as players who kneel during the national anthem to bring attention to racial injustice and inequality.

"I think Colin [Kaepernick] made a mistake," Simpson said. "I really appreciate what he was trying to say. I thought he made a bad choice in attacking the flag." Kaepernick was the first player to kneel.

"I grew up at a time when deacons were in the KKK. I don't disrespect the Bible because of those guys," Simpson said. "The flag shouldn't be disrespected because of what cops do. The flag represents what we want America to be."

Trump has called for players who kneel to be fired, referring to them as a "son of a bitch." The NFL and players' union have defended the players' right to silently protest.

Simpson currently lives in Las Vegas, being released from prison in early October.

Acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend, Ron Goldman in 1994, Simpson told The News he has not watched any of the programs (O.J.: Made in America, the 2016 ESPN documentary and the 2016 FX miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story) made about him while he was in prison on unrelated charges.

"I watch nothing of me," Simpson said. "I didn't watch the [Fox special Sunday night] because I knew they were all haters, and people will say things that are just not true, and there's nobody there to challenge them, and that would piss me off."

He also said, despite what people interpreted from the recently aired Fox special of the "lost" 2006 interview, he did not admit to killing anyone.

"When people want to make money or get ratings," Simpson said, "they're going to pimp me. I'm going to get pimped."