Dick Vitale

Everyone — even non-NFL fans — seems to have an opinion on Colin Kaepernick, his national anthem protest and his ongoing unemployment, for better or for worse.

That extends to ESPN college basketball announcer Dick Vitale, who for some reason, has an opinion on this. In short: He’s not a fan of NFL teams refusing to sign Kaepernick, who very clearly wants to play and is good enough to be a starter or backup in the NFL.

Hey I want to hear what my twit fam feels about this @NFL issue / Do u agree or disagree with my take ? @espn

A post shared by Dick Vitale (@dickiev_espn) on

Hat tip to the Mercury News, which transcribed Vitale’s take.

“Come on, now. That’s unbelievable. That is being blackballed at it’s best,” Vitale said about Kaepernick’s situation. “Look, I didn’t believe (in) and I didn’t really agree with the fact that he didn’t stand up for the national anthem. But that it is his right. That is the first amendment. That’s what our nation’s made of. You can’t hold that against him in terms of a job. He belongs in the NFL as a quarterback or a backup quarterback. Anything less than that, to me, is nothing but scandalous.”

It just goes to show that literally everyone has an opinion on Colin Kaepernick.

[Dick Vitale on Instagram; Mercury News]

About Kevin Trahan

Kevin mostly covers college football and college basketball, with an emphasis on NCAA issues and other legal issues in sports. He is also an incoming law student. He's written for SB Nation, USA Today, VICE Sports, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

4 thoughts on “Dick Vitale has a Colin Kaepernick take and wants you to know about it

  1. I am not sure that kaepernick did have a right to express his political views while in NFL uniform and during payed working hours. This is the question of NFL as a business policy toward its employees playing politics during working hours. But I also have my right not to attend or not to watch on TV NFL games where black lives matter racists express their hateful racist anti- American views. I quitted watching and attending NFL games – I have not even watched superball. I am done with NFL.

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