By Keith D. King
Just like any other Saturday morning, I woke up, brushed my teeth, and washed my face while my coffee was in the kitchen brewing. I sat down turned on the NFL Network to see what the latest moves in NFL Free Agency were. Crazy amounts of money was being thrown out. The first few days alone saw over one billion dollars spent. As the list of available free agents scrolled across my screen, the last name that I saw was Colin Kaepernick. The former 49er who just 4 years ago was one play away from winning the Super Bowl. But now, he’s more famously known for his decision to not stand for the National Anthem for the entire 2016 NFL Season due to social injustices and racism in America.
“He can still play at a high level,” Bleacher Report quoted an unnamed League Executive as saying.
“The problem is three things are happening with him. First, some teams genuinely believe that he can’t play. They think he’s shot. I’d put that number around 20 percent. Second, some teams fear the backlash from fans after getting him. They think there might be protests or [President Donald] Trump will tweet about the team. I’d say that number is around 10 percent. Then there’s another 10 percent that has a mix of those feelings. Third, the rest genuinely hate him and can’t stand what he did [kneeling for the national anthem]. They want nothing to do with him. They won’t move on. They think showing no interest is a form of punishment. I think some teams also want to use Kaepernick as a cautionary tale to stop other players in the future from doing what he did. When I spoke to a handful of executives at the combine a few weeks ago, one even called him “an embarrassment to football.”
Trying to be a subjective analyst, I thought that it could be possible that the only reason Kaepernick doesn’t have a job is because of strictly his performance which has been subpar at best over the last few seasons. But then my conscious mind kicked in.
I started thinking about inferior quarterbacks that I had witnessed horrendous play from over the same amount of time, and I Googled their names to research their current playing status. Guys like Matt Schaub, Josh McCown, Brian Hoyer, Mark Sanchez and the list can go on. I’ll refrain from making you continue to ask yourself ‘who the hell is that?’ Because that’s just the point. They’re NFL Journeymen that despite their play, continue to find NFL teams to give them an opportunity. There are 32 NFL teams. Colin Kaepernick has a higher career quarterback rating than 20 quarterbacks on those teams.
To make matters worse, #45, or some people loosely refer him as President Trump, decided to speak on Kaepernick at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky.
“And you know, your San Francisco quarterback,” Trump told a rally in Louisville, Kentucky. “I’m sure nobody ever heard of him. I’m just reporting the news. There was an article today — I love to report the news and then they said I made a mistake, right? I said, ‘No, the people reporting the news made a mistake if it’s wrong.’ But there was an article today, it was reported that NFL owners don’t want to pick him up because they don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump. Do you believe that? I just saw that. I just saw that. I said if I remember that one I’m gonna report it to the people of the Kentucky. Because they like it when people actually stand for the American flag.”
Kaepernick responded, not with words but actions. He donated $50,000 to Meals on Wheels, a long running program which Trump has been trying to stop funding for.
Unfortunately we may have to come to the realization that Kaepernick’s career may very well be over. Why? Because he decided to use his platform to bring attention to issues that have been plaguing his people since they stepped off of those slave ships in 1619?
It seems everything was fine as long as he ran fast, jumped high, and kept his mouth closed like his ‘owner’ wanted him to. Kaepernick insists that he still wants to play, but with earnings that have exceeded over 30 million dollars, and no NFL phone calls in site, it seems that he has continued to put his money where his mouth is and dedicating himself to social change.
Over the Last eight months he has donated over $150,000 to communities in need, and pledges to donate one million dollars over the next year. Whether on the field or off, Kaepernick should be a winner in our eyes. He stood up for what he believed in, and risked it all.
