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
Banner by @bearone