06-04-2020, 11:35 AM
Kaepernick's situation (being out of the league) can, in my very humble opinion, be described simply as him not being good enough to warrant the distraction.
People will claim he was "blackballed" or chased out of the league only for his political views, which I don't think is an enitrely fair description of the events. It's not just the politics involved themselves, but it's everything that came with them. Simply put, it then becomes a business decision. NOT a political one.
Just to play Devil's advocate, let's change both the player and their stance. And for good measure, since this is often a racial discussion, we'll change the race of the player as well. Let's say you take a current and comparable QB talent to him. We can use someone like Blake Bortles or Chad Henne, it really isn't all that important as everything is hypothetical. And let's change the stance to this QB currently immersing himself into, I don't know, the Blue Lives Matter movement.
If Blake Bortles chooses to publically support this movement, at this time, needless to say there will be controvery and backlash. If he then chooses to continue to put himself in the forefront of the discussion it's going to create more and more scrutiny for both his team and the league. When training camp opens and gobs and gobs of media descend on to that facility that organization is going to have deal with a lot of headache and distraction that really has little to do with what they're ultimately trying to do. WIN FOOTBALL GAMES.
At some point, a team is going to have to ask themselves, it it really worth it for us to deal with all of this for a QB that's not so great? Is Blake Bortles really worth the headache of dealing with this much media scrutiny and attention? Is it fair to the otherr 75+ guys in our building to be bombarded with questions about one single player?
The answer to that question is no, no it is not. Blake Bortles is not worth that type of distraction. And while you can claim he's not employed only because he supports Blue Lives Matter, that's not exactly telling the whole story. He's not employed because he's made this cause a focal point, and he's brought way too much controvery along with it.
And let's be honest here. Kaepernick didn't just silently take a knee as many claim. He wore PIG socks that were depictions of cops onto a NFL field. That's cleary someone who's drawing attention to themselves. That is not at all a single silent gesture. He also gave countless interviews whenever he could. While the act of kneeling is silent, everything else surrounding him was anything but.
This isn't to say he shouldn't be allowed to do these things. That's not my point. My point is it's disinegenous to claim all he did was silently take a knee. Again, he chose to insert himself into a controversial issue. Again, and again, again. And if you want to applaud him for that, then that's your right. But you do have to look at the big picture as to why he found himself without a lot of offers.
If Blake Bortles does the above, he's likely to be out of job next year. If Case Keenum made the NRA a cause he brought up often, and then chose to wear controversial attire it would become a BIG problem. If he, say, wore a shirt mocking David Hogg from Parkland, chances are he too becomes not worth it. He's just not good enough. And really, I'm not sure any player is.
This is a billions upon billions of dollar business. Everything in the end comes down to money. Your stance could be that peanut butter and jelly is better than pizza, and if that starts affecting advertising and viewership it's going to be an issue. If it results in an inordiante of media coverage, then a team might be reluctant to sign you.
And lastly, let's not pretend Kaeprnick ever had any attention of continuing his career. Guys who are out of the league almost always find work in a lesser league. They go to the CFL to keep themselves in shape and to build tape and to show they can still play. He did not do that. He did nothing. He also refused a backup offer from the Broncos and chose, AGAIN, to turn his recent workout into media circus. He made his choice a long time ago. Activist over NFL player. And that's fine. But you don't get to have your cake and eat it too. You can't say I want all of this attention, and I wan't to be known for making this huge sacrifice, and then turn around and claim you really just wanted to play football and this isn't fair.
Fwiw, I personally think there's countless more genuine and better people that surround these current issues. I personally think Kaepernick may even have started with the best intentions, but has turned into more than a bit of disingenous blowhard, who is more concerned with his image and HIMSELF more than anything else. Don't be fooled. He's profited greatly thoughout this saga. He's made more by this sacrifice then he would have had as a backup. And it's hard to take seriously a man who champions himself as a human rights advocate that takes a "top end" endorsement deal with a company like Nike. It's hypocracy at it's finest. I really wish we would choose to focus on so many others. He just doesn't strike me as someone who is at all authentic about his intentions and motivations. But that's just my 2 cents on him. ...
People will claim he was "blackballed" or chased out of the league only for his political views, which I don't think is an enitrely fair description of the events. It's not just the politics involved themselves, but it's everything that came with them. Simply put, it then becomes a business decision. NOT a political one.
Just to play Devil's advocate, let's change both the player and their stance. And for good measure, since this is often a racial discussion, we'll change the race of the player as well. Let's say you take a current and comparable QB talent to him. We can use someone like Blake Bortles or Chad Henne, it really isn't all that important as everything is hypothetical. And let's change the stance to this QB currently immersing himself into, I don't know, the Blue Lives Matter movement.
If Blake Bortles chooses to publically support this movement, at this time, needless to say there will be controvery and backlash. If he then chooses to continue to put himself in the forefront of the discussion it's going to create more and more scrutiny for both his team and the league. When training camp opens and gobs and gobs of media descend on to that facility that organization is going to have deal with a lot of headache and distraction that really has little to do with what they're ultimately trying to do. WIN FOOTBALL GAMES.
At some point, a team is going to have to ask themselves, it it really worth it for us to deal with all of this for a QB that's not so great? Is Blake Bortles really worth the headache of dealing with this much media scrutiny and attention? Is it fair to the otherr 75+ guys in our building to be bombarded with questions about one single player?
The answer to that question is no, no it is not. Blake Bortles is not worth that type of distraction. And while you can claim he's not employed only because he supports Blue Lives Matter, that's not exactly telling the whole story. He's not employed because he's made this cause a focal point, and he's brought way too much controvery along with it.
And let's be honest here. Kaepernick didn't just silently take a knee as many claim. He wore PIG socks that were depictions of cops onto a NFL field. That's cleary someone who's drawing attention to themselves. That is not at all a single silent gesture. He also gave countless interviews whenever he could. While the act of kneeling is silent, everything else surrounding him was anything but.
This isn't to say he shouldn't be allowed to do these things. That's not my point. My point is it's disinegenous to claim all he did was silently take a knee. Again, he chose to insert himself into a controversial issue. Again, and again, again. And if you want to applaud him for that, then that's your right. But you do have to look at the big picture as to why he found himself without a lot of offers.
If Blake Bortles does the above, he's likely to be out of job next year. If Case Keenum made the NRA a cause he brought up often, and then chose to wear controversial attire it would become a BIG problem. If he, say, wore a shirt mocking David Hogg from Parkland, chances are he too becomes not worth it. He's just not good enough. And really, I'm not sure any player is.
This is a billions upon billions of dollar business. Everything in the end comes down to money. Your stance could be that peanut butter and jelly is better than pizza, and if that starts affecting advertising and viewership it's going to be an issue. If it results in an inordiante of media coverage, then a team might be reluctant to sign you.
And lastly, let's not pretend Kaeprnick ever had any attention of continuing his career. Guys who are out of the league almost always find work in a lesser league. They go to the CFL to keep themselves in shape and to build tape and to show they can still play. He did not do that. He did nothing. He also refused a backup offer from the Broncos and chose, AGAIN, to turn his recent workout into media circus. He made his choice a long time ago. Activist over NFL player. And that's fine. But you don't get to have your cake and eat it too. You can't say I want all of this attention, and I wan't to be known for making this huge sacrifice, and then turn around and claim you really just wanted to play football and this isn't fair.
Fwiw, I personally think there's countless more genuine and better people that surround these current issues. I personally think Kaepernick may even have started with the best intentions, but has turned into more than a bit of disingenous blowhard, who is more concerned with his image and HIMSELF more than anything else. Don't be fooled. He's profited greatly thoughout this saga. He's made more by this sacrifice then he would have had as a backup. And it's hard to take seriously a man who champions himself as a human rights advocate that takes a "top end" endorsement deal with a company like Nike. It's hypocracy at it's finest. I really wish we would choose to focus on so many others. He just doesn't strike me as someone who is at all authentic about his intentions and motivations. But that's just my 2 cents on him. ...
