This past week the National Football League granted a private workout for Colin Kaepernick. The Atlanta Falcons opened their world class facility for this workout. Hue Jackson, the former coach of the Cleveland Browns, was tapped to oversee this workout. All 32 teams were invited and 25 showed up. All 32 teams would have seen tape of the workout. The time was set for 3:00 p.m.
At 2:30 p.m., Mr. Kaepernick announced he was changing the workout to a new location in the Atlanta area. The time would now be set for 4 p.m. The area in question was some 60 miles away.
After 3 years of whining, consistently, that he wasn't being given a chance, after suing the NFL for collusion and then settling for an undisclosed amount, after signing a multi-million dollar deal with Nike, the NFL gave Mr. Kaepernick what he wanted. He was getting a chance to show his skills to 25 people from the most elite football organizations in the world. Unsurprisingly, at least to anyone who has paid attention to the this over-hyped drama queen for the past 3 years, this wasn't enough.
Let's talk about all the things Colin was getting:
- His agent was allowed to suggest what questions should be asked after the on field workout.
- He was allowed to bring his own receivers to the workout.
- He knew ahead of time exactly what drills and skills would be used during the workout.
- He was allowed to have Nike there to shoot a commercial and use all 32 NFL team names in said commercial.
- His representatives were permitted to be on field with him during the workout.
- He would receive all raw video footage of the workout, which was being shot by the Atlanta Falcons video crew
That wasn't enough. He wanted his own crew to film. Typical NFL combines only have one crew that shoots video. He wanted full media access to the workout. He didn't want to sign the standard liability waiver.
Let's be honest. Mr. Kaepernick didn't want a shot at teams seeing his skills. He wanted a carefully choreographed media event, where inevitably he would have the opportunity to whine just a little bit more. He'd have the opportunity to cash in on his Nike deal with yet another commercial. He's had so little face time lately that he was sinking into obscurity, and well, he can't let that happen. Nike can't let that happen either, since you don't sell shoes off the back of a guy people are no longer talking about.
If you are sitting out there still believing that somehow Colin has been oppressed, there is honestly nothing I can do to help you. He made his decisions. He kneeled during the national anthem, wore pig police socks to practice, created a firestorm, and he did all of this while being a mediocre quarterback who was figured out by defenses 2 years previously. He opted out of his contract with the 49ers and turned down another contract with the Denver Broncos. If you think this is all because Colin is black, let me clue you in. Russell Wilson could burn a flag on the field on Sunday and he would still have a job. So could Lamar Jackson and DeSean Watson. All 3 of those men are black and the difference is, their controversy would be outweighed by their ability to play football. Two of those black quarterbacks are in the running for an MVP this season.
I have no blinders when it comes to the NFL. They are tired of being told by every armchair imbecile who can't see the forest for the trees, that somehow Colin is being treated unfairly. So they offered him this opportunity to show off what he can do and see if anyone wants to bite. I also believe 25 teams sent people to see him, because that too, would put this to rest....finally. It doesn't matter why it was done, because if Colin can still play at an elite level someone would sign him. Quarterbacks are dropping left and right in the NFL this season. But here's the kicker.... Colin has to be good enough to outweigh his locker room and off field antics. He wasn't that good when he was still signed with a team. At 32, it's unlikely he is measurably better. So it's unlikely anyone would sign him to start, and Colin has made perfectly clear he doesn't believe he should be riding the bench.
It's time to let this go. While raging against the vast injustice in the United States of America, Colin got rich.... rich on the very same system he rails against. He kneeled for the anthem of a country he obviously hates, while taking advantage of opportunities that country provides. Colin should take his "hard-earned" Nike sweatshop money and go be the change he wants to see. Let us football fans have our game back, because after all, in the end, it is just a game.
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