Erich Nikischer quit his job working at Buffalo's New Era Field on Sunday after several Bills football players kneeled during the national anthem.
"Fox and Friends" had Nikischer on as a guest Wednesday morning to talk about his decision to quit on the spot after working NFL games since the Bills made their first Super Bowl appearance.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Nikischer said he was "pushed to my limit" from the players who protested by kneeling during the national anthem.
"After almost 30 years of working for the Buffalo Bills thru the good seasons and a lot of bad ones, I was finally pushed to my limit today and had to quit. I can not work in a place where multi millionaires cry that they are oppressed," he wrote.
Nikischer told Fox News' Steve Doocy that after the anthem was finished, he took off his Bills hat and walked out of the tunnel to quit his job.
"After the anthem ended, I took off my Buffalo Bills hat and threw it on the ground, took off my security shirt, and walk out of the tunnel, then went and quit my job," he said.
Doocy asked Nikischer why the protest affected him so deeply.
"It was during the national anthem and that is something I hold dear to my heart," Nikischer said. "A lot of people have fought and died for this country; the song and the flag signified that to me. I have a lot of friends that are veterans and I have family members who are disabled veterans, and my father is a Korean War vet."
"The national anthem and the flag mean a lot to me, so in my heart I had to take my stand; it was a personal stand and I quit," he added.
Nikischer's father, a Korean War veteran, called his son choked up with tears of pride after hearing he made a stand in honor of veterans and the national anthem.
"He called me that night; he was broken up. He was proud of me, but he was in tears with pride," Nikischer said of his father. "Because I stood up for veterans and did the right thing in my heart and his heart. I took a stand, and even though I stood alone, I still took the stand."
Nikischer's Facebook post describing his actions has drawn both support and "some hate mail." Nikischer said he takes the hate mail "for what it's worth" and has received support from veterans and gold star mothers, among others.
"I've talked to some co-workers who gave me a lot of support, and I've of course gotten a lot of support on Facebook from veterans, other law enforcement officers, gold star mothers," he said. "I've also gotten some hate mail, but I take that for what it's worth."
The now-former stadium employee will spend his Sundays with his family. Nikischer believes if the NFL players want solutions to societal problems, they need to go to communities and take action rather than kneel.
"I believe kneeling is the players saying there's a problem, someone else fix it. I believe if they went out to the community, took some time, and did something for a solution [as] opposed to just kneeling and saying someone else fix it, it'd be a solution," he said. "Do something about it."