Out of work quarterback Colin Kaepernick has filed a lawsuit against NFL owners claiming collusion.
Basically his lawyer, hot shot attorney Mark Geragos, is claiming all the owners are working together to keep him out of work. The purpose of the claim would be to terminate the collective bargaining agreement the players have with the league.
Just some background, incase you've been living under a rock, 29 year old quarterback Colin Kaepernick opted out of his contract last year with the San Francisco 49ers. He chose to hit the free agent market to try make more money elsewhere with another team. Ofcourse that hasn't happened yet, he rolled the dice and he lost.
Now he's out of a job and claiming the team owners are working together to keep him from playing because he chose to exercise his freedom of speech and kneel during the national anthem.
Ofcourse this story has been making headlines daily and everyone's got an opinion on whether or not players should be kneeling, standing or sitting during the national anthem.
One thing that can't be denied is television ratings for the games are down this year. You can either attribute that to the protests or maybe people are just not that excited by the quality of play this year.
Now the man who started it all has still not been signed and he's claiming it's because of his anthem protests last season and ofcourse racism.
Nobody wants to look at Kaepernick's stats though, it's debatable whether he's even an NFL quality player. His numbers have slumped over the past few seasons and if he's employed it'd be at a backup position, he's definitely not a starter if statistics are what your are to judge him by.
Last year he threw for 187 yards per game which put him at 30th in a league of 32 teams.
His career passing percentage is 60% which is considered fringe worthy at best. Last season he threw for 59.2% which is miserable, his stats have been slipping every season so if you follow trends you'd have to assume he'd be worse this year if he were to play.
Football fans know he doesn't throw for distance, it's not the style of quarterback Colin is and he doesn't have a strong or accurate arm. His miserable completion record is mostly on shorter passes which he isn't even good at.
Just judging by his numbers..which is what he should be rated by afterall, its debatable whether he's even NFL worthy to begin with?
Couple that with the fact he brought so much atrention, some would say negative, to himself kneeling during the anthem why would someone want to reward him for his efforts?
He chose to make a spectacle, whether right or wrong, and he's barely back up QB material to begin with.. so why should an owner have to employ him? Shouldn't the owners have the right to chose not to pay a guy like this?
If you were causing drama at your job and were one of the worst employees at getting your work done would your boss give you a glowing reference to your next would be employer? I doubt it. If you left and then wanted to come back should they have to take you?
Kaepernick protested the anthem because he doesn't believe police officers in America treat people of color fairly, that's a pretty blanket statement, we all know not all of them are bad apples but now he's sueing the NFL owners because they're all working against him and are bad people too? See the irony here..
There have been NFL owners this season joining the players on the field to protest the anthem and kneel during it, clearly they're not as bad as Colin Kaepernick and his lawyer would have us believe.
Colin wanted to create a spectacle, it worked.
He made his bed now he has to lie in it. If I were barely employable and looking for a new job I wouldn't be creating drama or problems for the entire league and now he's trying to sue them.
Should he be given a job now? Hell no!
What I find funny though is, he told reporters earlier in the offseason that if he were given a job he wouldn't kneel during the anthem anymore. He basically gave up on his ideals but there's alot of people trying to act like he's a civil rights hero. As soon as he realised his pocketbook was going to be negatively affected he gave up on his "movement."
Full disclosure, I don't feel sporting events should be a platform for political protests. There's protests in the media and on the streets everyday and people don't pay big money to go watch rich players share their political views before a game in my opinion.
People go to these games to forget their problems and just have a good time. Sports can unite people but these anthem protests have clearly only worked to divide them.
If you look at the ratings this year for NFL games viewership is down. Die hard fans are actually boycotting the NFL this season because of all of these protests. Do you know who that is going to have a negative impact on?..the mega rich owners and the wealthy players. They're only hurting themselves.
Most of these players have many other avenues they can demonstrate their political views if they choose to do so, they don't have to do it on the field before the games.
There's been so many NFL players found guilty of beating women, children and even killing people but they weren't kneeling down or protesting that. Now they can't stand for the American flag in the country that gives them the freedom to play a sport for millions of dollars? You can see why alot of people have a problem with this..
The only thing the anthem protests have achieved is further dividing people and angering proud Americans. Many people do believe the U.S isn't perfect, there's alot of room for improvement, but there isn't a country on this planet that is without problems.
Again this is all my opinion and I respect your right to disagree and voice your views, but I would think it was disrespectful if you did it a funeral, before my wedding or during the playing of my countries national anthem.
There's a time and a place for everything..
Kaepernick isn't working because he's barely skilled enough to do so, it's debatable whether he's even good enough. Add the fact he's a headache, a distraction and all around trouble maker and do you really have to wonder why noone wants to employ him? Plus now he's trying to sue the league over it..
Please just go away Colin! You're already mega rich and we just don't care, you created all this drama and now we have to hear about it daily.
Noones even talking about the actual football games anymore, they're only talking about the useless anthem protests. What is this even supposed to prove? You're not happy with America, well does anyone have any thoughts of how we can improve it? No, we're just mad at people who are proud of their country.
Another thing..people always want to throw out the race card when anyone says they have a problem with the players protesting during the anthem, but the fact is football is a sport comprised of 70% black athletes. The mostly white fans pay huge money to go watch the players and cheer them on. They also pay $100+ dollars to purchase jerseys with their names on the back, so I can't and won't believe it's about race or that NFL fans are racist.
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments..
Thanks for reading,
*Picture credit USA Today
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Freedom of speech (expression) simply means that government will not abridge free speech. Whether you agree with Kapernick or not, the NFL is not the government. It is not only about winning games either. It is a business and all the teams are businesses. Whether or not Kapernick is any good is irrelevant. A large part of the NFL fan base has voted with their wallets (eyeballs, etc.) and won't support someone who disrespects a flag and national anthem that so many heros died defending. He is a total distraction and almost guaranteed money -loser. An NFL owner would be crazy to have him on the roster.
Yeah I gotta agree with everything you said. There's just so many avenues for these guys to protest to do it at their workplace is just bad PR and business. Thx for stopping by Randy
Yep
What this means in a bigger sense for the future of the Collective Bargaining Agreement is huge. I'm telling you that we will NOT have football for at minimum half a season in 2022. The owners always win and in a sport that makes the most money and is the most punishing to the body the players are far worse off monetarily than athletes in almost any other of the major 4 sports in America, likely with the exception of Hockey. The players union really gave in last time and the owners saw it as a huge win. They want to see the same thing with this next agreement but the players are really being to be fed up, and we can see why. I, honestly would prefer we just play football and talk the politics put of it. I watch football to get away from the bullshit and have fun with friends and family. Have comradory with everyone in the area of your team, not talk about who we voted for at the beginning of the game. I DON'T CARE. Sorry for that rant, but yeah, it's more mud on the game and will only divided the sides prior to a situation where both sides need to come to some sort of an agreement for the game, for the monetary best interest of all involved and most importantly but most frequently forgotten, the fans.
I appreciate your comment. People sometimes forget for good and bad, professional sports are a business and Colin's behavior and skillset are just not good for the people who own the teams and pay the players. Now he's trying to sue them and cause more problems now that he's not even playing. I can't wait for this to eventually blow over and just go back to enjoying the game..until the next issue arises lol. I suspect you could be right about an upcoming lock out/walkout
Completely agree. Seems like a desperate attempt for that last big paycheck.
Id assume hes hoping for an settlement out of court, but we will see what happens.
Interesting tebow didnt take this route.
Great piece GA. I agree with your argument and the tone of its delivery. Upped & resteemed
👊😎
And with millions of dollars in their pockets, why don't these players go and BUY some advertising space, or EMPLOY some people to help them get their extra-curricular opinions out to the public. Instead, they've hijacked there own employers in broad daylight under the guise of racial inequality -- while they cash huge cheques... has any player, or players rep, set up a charity of note for others to do good deeds with?
Haven't heard about it if so...
I'm a 49er fan and an avid Alex Smith supporter. I never liked the way Kaepernick was promoted from an injury to Smith. Not good coaching on Harbaugh's part and I believe it cost them a Super Bowl.
This is a really interesting turn of events in the Kaepernick saga. You are right that he is a fringe quarterback these days, he was never a huge threat with his arm but he had other dimensions to his game early in his career with the 49er's. I might take him over Joe Flacco as well haha.
With concerns to the anthem kneeling debate, the whole point of free speech is being able to do this, if people think there is a huge inequality that exists than why not use whatever platform you have to get your word out there. People argue that its disrespecting the flag and military, blah blah blah, says who? When people wear stars and stripes underwear is that not disrespectful?
Colin didn't make a spectacle of the issue, the media did. He simply knelt in protest and talked about it in interviews.
Viewership is down, that could be for a number of reasons, but likely you're right, it has to do with the protests. That just shows me how divided people are on the topic and how closed minded people can be. I'll try and stop it there before I go off on a tangent, but this race issue is a huge issue and needs to be openly discussed, not brushed under the rug.
Thx for your input Jason. My point was why do players have to protest on the field to begin with? Being a celebrity means they have many avenues to get their messages out, why does it have to be during the national anthem, knowing that's going to get a poor reaction and anger ppl? They're angry they want to anger others? That doesn't seem to be the right angle to take if they want to cause change imo. Also he exercised his freedom by kneeling and wants ppl to respect that.. now he's upset 32 owners are excercising their freedom by not paying him to play. What's your take on that my friend?
I completely agree with the owners not signing him, he's not a top 30 QB in the league anymore. He should have the right to say these things/protest racism in America. He should also respect the owners rights not to want him on their team. You cant have it both ways.
My thoughts on him kneeling. When someone starts a movement, like what Cap is trying to do, there will always be push back and public outcry, if there isn't that means you're not really having any effect at all. If what he and the other NFL players are doing can lead to conversations about this at a national level and policy reform then it is all worth it in my opinion.
Freedom of speech reveals the natural born whiners.
I'm a fan of kids playing sports for life lessons, but please explain to me why men follow sports? When did a culture of men babies getting fat watching mindless entertainment become cool?
None of the guys are from your city, you know none of them, you think only NOW the NFL got political? You've already been brainwashed for years by the military ads making you complacent when governments spend trillions on the military, borrow that money from the Fed, that YOU then owe back via YOUR taxes.
Meanwhile while you're living out your fantasy of being a fake viking here's your reality...the biggest data analyis in history on sperm count of Western men was just released this summer...analyzing stats since 1970, we're down 60%.
Science Daily
To put this in perspective...how does a permanent drop of 60% of completed passes from your favourite Quarterback sound? Or a permanent reduction in the number of yards ran by your favourite receiver sound?
Pass the chips and dip.
Sport has been has been around since the dawn of man so I don't think you made much of a point there. People enjoy watching women and men compete regardless of the activity. Also here in Canada we don't really run military ads so that point falls short. I'm not at all worried about my sperm count, maybe that will save me $ on condoms? If you prefer the sperm from other parts of the hemisphere that's your choice I suppose.. The one thing I do agree with about your comment is the chips and dip part..chips and dip are delightful :)
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The protests and the grandstanding, because no one wants to hire him are red herring to what is really at issue here. Whether not people want to believe it, sports, and that is all sports are big business. Fill the seats with paying customers. That is what it all about. Teams want players that can perform consistently over the time their ridiculous contracts. So maybe folks should look at how he performed over the last couple of years of his contract. No, it's not because he is black. It is because he is a stinky player...
Spot on and excellently written - makes total sense, Kaepernick is a Lazy Ass Punk!
Very nice sport
I agree with the fact that this guy shouldn't be complaining. He decided to take the chance to be a free agent. A chance is a chance, no one owes you anything. I believe in that regard he doesn't have a leg to stand on because they can sign or not sign who they want, it would be different if he was signed to a team but he's not. The other issue is a whole different thing so I will leave it at that.