NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that he not only welcomes a return to the league by former player Colin Kaepernick; he also suggested that he has been encouraging teams to give the controversial quarterback an opportunity to resume his career.

Former Pro Bowl safety for the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders Burgess Owens thinks a Kaepernick return is a terrible idea.

A we reported last week, Goodell joined the long list of those condemning “systemic racism” and pledging support to Black Lives Matter, saying he welcomes Kaepernick back to “guide us, help us make better decisions about the kinds of things that need to be done.”

Well, listen, if he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it’s going to take a team to make that decision. But I welcome that, support a club making that decision and encourage them to do that.

If his efforts are not on the field but continuing to work in this space, we welcome him to that table and to help us, guide us, help us make better decisions about the kinds of things that need to be done in the communities.

But, Owens — a Black Republican who is seeking a House seat in Utah’s 4th Congressional District — told Sports Illustrated: “If Goodell allows Kaepernick to come back, if they allow players to kneel during the national anthem, I’m willing to not watch the game.”

If we’re going that route, we should also ask Tim Tebow to come back. It doesn’t matter how long he’s been out of the game. It doesn’t matter his talent. He was a Christian who kneeled in prayer and was a positive on his team. The reason why Tim Tebow — as talented as he was with the Denver Broncos — the NFL didn’t like his essence. They thought he was too distracting … too distracting to his team and his organization.

Owens suggested that Kaepernick is just as much a distraction as Tebow reportedly was — and for worse reasons.

Meanwhile, we’re willing to have the distraction of a Marxist, a Castro, brother-loving Marxist to come back and play that many Americans don’t want to see him play. I just find it very disappointing.

The NFL lost 15 percent of their audience last time, maybe a little bit more. The goal has been to increase their base, their revenue, by going overseas to places like China, Mexico, and England. They don’t care enough about their fans who love this country.

The former Pro-Bowler told SI that kneeling during the national anthem boils down to disrespecting America and its flag — a sentiment shared by millions of Kaepernick detractors across the country.

We have too many Americans now accepting the notion that the flag should be a place where people should be ashamed of or take a knee, that’s what it comes down to. I am disappointed that so many people are acquiescing today. They don’t understand the American way; they don’t understand the price paid.

As much as Burgess Owens opposes a Kaepernick return to the NFL, Half of Fame quarterback Brett Favre has a far different take.

As we reported yesterday, Favre on Sunday compared Kaepernick leaving the NFL to “fight for social justice” to former player Pat Tillman, who left the league in the aftermath of 9/11 to fight in Afghanistan. The Army Ranger was killed in action in 2004.

Favre believes that Kaepernick, like Tillman, deserves “hero status.”

Boy, I suppose that he’s helped his cause tremendously and is deserving of much praise and respect, because it’s not easy for a guy his age, black or white, Hispanic, whatever, to stop something that you’ve always dreamed of doing and put it on hold, maybe forever, for something that you believe in.

You know, I can only think of, right off the top of my head, Pat Tillman, as another guy who did something, you know, similar, and we regard him as a hero. So, I assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well.