Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis gave quite possibly the best answer of all time in regards to the recent protests by NFL players during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Mattis' take on the whole situation: I'm the secretary of defense, and this has nothing to do with anything.
Reporter: Do you have anything to say about the NFL?
— Travis J. Tritten (@Travis_Tritten) September 25, 2017
SEC. MATTIS: I'm the secretary of defense. We defend the country.
Mattis was asked about the NFL on Sunday while traveling to India during media availability, and the quip from the transcript went viral on Monday afternoon. Clearly, Mad Dog wasn't having any of it. The question-and-answer session ended after Mattis reaffirmed that he had no opinion about the NFL.
This isn't the first time Mattis has delivered an A+ rebuttal to a question--he once remarked that nothing keeps him awake at night, but rather he keeps people up at night.
I mean, Mattis has a point. Although he's a former general, he certainly has more important things to worry about than NFL players taking a knee during the National Anthem. His job isn't to commentate on the activities of football players--he's supposed to defend the country. That's his priority, and he'll be sticking to it.
And frankly, in this world of everything being overly politicized--I'm glad he's not going to go off-script and create unnecessary drama.