On Colin Kaepernick's Lack of a Job

Colin Kaepernick was once a star quarterback in the NFL. In 2012, after he took over from Alex Smith, he led the 49ers to the Super Bowl. Although his team lost that game to the Ravens, Kaepernick had made a mark on the NFL fandom. He followed up his breakout Super Bowl run with two very solid years in 2013 and 2014. In those two years he threw for a combined 6,566 yds, 40 TD, 18 INT. Kaepernick also contributed with his legs rushing for 1,163 yds and another 5 TD. Although not elite, Kaepernick was definitely top tier, but then things fell apart in 2015. The 49ers and Kaepernick struggled to start the season going 2-6. The coaching staff benched Kaepernick after that and he eventually underwent surgery on his shoulder, ending the season on the IR. 

All that brings us to last season. Coming off his injury and the worst statistical season of his career, Kaepernick entered 2016 fighting for the starting job. That by itself would have been an interesting storyline. Then during a preseason game Kaepernick decided to sit in protest during the national anthem and all hell broke loose. Kaepernick was protesting the treatment of ethnic minorities in the United States. The quarterback's protest continue in various forms throughout the year. He pissed off a lot of fans, but inspired others. Regardless of what you think about his protest it worked in getting people talking about the issues and the place of political action in sports.

Coming into the 2017 season Kaepernick is a free agent able to sign to play with any NFL team that wants him. Several analysts, former teammates, and former coaches have said that Kaepernick still has the skills to play in the NFL. Additionally NFL contracts are not guaranteed so if any team signed him and found out he couldn't play they could cut him with little or no penalty. However, so far, no NFL team has offered him a contract. There could be lots of reasons for this, but one of them is definitely because of Kaepernick's decision to not honor the flag during the swinging of the national anthem before games.

Some teams like the Jets and Broncos are in great need of a quarterback and if only football related matters were considered should clearly sign Kaepernick. However, both of those two teams are run by strongly opinionated Republicans with a strong sense of nationalism and I think both were clearly biased against Kaepernick because of their political leanings.

(The Broncos main decision maker is John Elway, who is the Executive Vice President of Football Operations and the General Manager.  He is also a lifelong Republican and recently attended Donald Trump's inauguration. Elway also doesn't have a problem with mixing football and politics. As a recent example Elway wrote an endorsement of Neil Gorsuch to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on Broncos letterhead. 

Woody Johnson is the owner of the New York Jets. He is a very active owner and is often involved in football personnel decisions. He is also is big time Republican donor and Donald Trump supporter. Johnson was rewarded for his party loyalty with being nominated to be ambassador to the United Kingdom. Johnson doesn’t strike me as someone that would put up with a person disrespecting the flag he clearly loves.)

As the decision makers for their respective teams John Elway and Woody Johnson have the right to not employee Colin Kaepernick, but when they make that choice it hurts their team's chances of winning. As long as they are honest that they chose to not sign the former 49ers QB because of his activism and not because of his football skills I don't see a problem with it. Just don't lie to us and him by saying it is a football decision.

It appears that other teams have chosen not to sign Kaepernick, not because of their own political beliefs, but because of the potential media and fan backlash that could result. They are afraid, right or wrong, that all the attention and controversy that comes with Kaepernick outweighs the potential football benefits. They view him as a potential distraction that would get in the way of the team concentrating of winning football games. They very well could be right, but for a team like the Houston Texans it seems like a gamble worth making. Without Kaepernick they are going into the 2017 with Tom Savage (someguy) or DeShaun Watson (a rookie) as their quarterbacks. They are taking the easy way out and hurting their teams in the process.

The third and final reason that teams with a need at the quarterback position could be avoiding Kaepernick is money he may be asking for. This reason is a lot more speculative as Kaepernick hasn't publicly stated how much money he wants to make. The assumption is that teams, like the Seattle Seahawks, that need a backup QB aren't willing to pay Kaepernick the amount of money he is asking for. He may be asking for starter money or even high end back up money. The Seahawks have a great starting quarterback in Russell Wilson and hope to never see their backup play a meaningful snap in 2017. If Kaepernick is asking for a large contract it doesn't make sense for a team like the Seahawks to sign him. Their salary cap limited resources are better spent on players at other positions.

All that being said and discussed I think it is a shame that Colin Kaepernick hasn't been signed to an NFL team yet. He is an upstanding citizen with strong well thought out political beliefs. He is someone willing to sacrifice for what he believes in and make very public and civil defenses of those beliefs. He should be a role model for us all. He should not be chastised for his actions.

Personally I was hoping the Seahawks would sign him. If the money was the issue I completely understand, but if it was because of the distraction factor or the front offices political beliefs shame on them. They should be able to see through nonviolent off field issues and make decisions that help the football team win.

For any of the NFL teams avoiding Kaepernick because of their politics or fear of distractions, especially the Jets and Broncos, it is a shame and has exposed yet again the hypocrisy of the NFL morality. Teams regularly employ wife beaters, drunk drivers, and other dangerous offenders, but they won't pay a brave nonviolent activist. Instead of trying to understand Kaepernick and the issues he brought up they are choosing to hide behind the shield of the NFL like cowards.