Former NFL Player Burgess Owens on Kobe Bryant: ‘He Was Able to Show the American Dream’

Retired American football safety Burgess Owens, who played for both the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders, joined SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday, where he discussed the passing of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and the impeachment process against President Donald Trump.

“It’s tragic. It’s sad,” Owens told host Matthew Boyle. “Kobe was able to transcend in his sport. We all feel the same way. It didn’t matter. This is really the testament of life. It didn’t matter what side of the political aisle we are.”

“It doesn’t matter how much we followed the sport basketball,” Owens continued. “He was able to show the American dream.”

Owens went on to characterize Bryant as a “dedicated husband” and a “loving father,” before discussing Bryant’s short, 41-year life.

“We all know at the age of 41 how much he could have really done for our entire country and set an example,” Owens said. “We have a good example of someone who maxed out. He did a great job with his life and we all gonna miss him.”

Boyle then shifted the topic to Bryant’s work with his family and community, which Bryant was very well-known for. Owens said, “At the end of the day, what is it that we want our life to represent? It really isn’t the particular talent that comes and goes… it is what you’re remembered for when it’s all said and done. He’s remembered for being a good contributor to our country. Again, I can’t state this strongly enough. I was never really a basketball fan, but I respected someone who played that game to such a degree. He gave so much of who he was. He was known for his ability to just go out there and work hard with a work ethic that was hard to match.”

Questioned on the impeachment process against President Trump, Owens, who is also running for Congress in Utah’s 4th Congressional District, slammed the Democrat Party, saying, “They care more about their power. They care more about damaging this president. They care more about their next election than the American people.”

Owens also commended President Trump and credited him with opening America’s eyes to “see what our country’s been up against all these years.”

Both Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant were killed Sunday morning in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, which left all nine people on board dead.