Colin Kaepernick is not on an NFL team right now because of his social activism, as he is clearly a far better quarterback than many of the quarterbacks on NFL rosters.
Kaepernick has allies in former football rivals, including stars Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett. And those two players went to bat for Kaepernick in a USA Today interview, going so far as to call out by name the players who are worse than Kaepernick and have a job.
Sherman wasn’t shy about listing players he thought don’t measure up to Kaepernick on the field, and he made it clear there’s no chance this is anything other than Kaepernick being blackballed.
In Sherman’s eyes, this – on the heels of New York Giants co-owner John Mara maintaining during the offseason that he has received intense feedback from fans denouncing Kaepernick – advances the blackball theory.
“For you to say you have to check with sponsors and fans because this guy took a knee and made a statement?” Sherman said. “Now if you told me this guy threw eight pick-sixes last year and played like a bum, had no talent, that’s one thing. But Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett or whoever is playing for the Jets right now – whoever is starting for the Jets is terrible – have jobs. You’re telling me fans would rather you lose and put a worse player out there because a guy took a stand? That’s where it’s so troublesome to me.”
Sherman cited a few examples, including the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Blake Bortles and the Los Angeles Rams’ Jared Goff, as starters that don’t measure up to Kaepernick.
“Blake Bortles has shown you enough to where you don’t think Kaep would be a solid fit?” Sherman added. “Kaep has won games.”
It’s hard to argue with that! Kaepernick might not be a star, but there are a number of teams that could use him as a starter, and almost everyone could use him as a backup. However, teams have come up with all kinds of excuses not to take Kaepernick on. That’s hypocritical, given that the NFL routinely has no qualms finding homes for bad people.
Bennett pointed out that hypocrisy:
“I think it shows the racial divide in the league,” Bennett told USA TODAY Sports. “There are (accused) rapists and drunk drivers in the league. But he’s somebody who didn’t do anything to anybody. But you hear owners say, ‘We have to ask our fan base first.’ But the Giants kept Josh Brown (amid a domestic violence issue). Ben Roethlisberger has been accused of rape twice. The organization didn’t turn their back on him. They gave him a contract extension. Kaepernick didn’t do anything. That’s why racism is the biggest issue in America.”
There is no reason, other than social justice activism, that Kaepernick doesn’t have a job in the NFL. The longer that goes on, the more cowardly NFL owners look.
