Breaking Down Why Colin Kaepernick is Still a NFL Free Agent
There have been a handful of reasons given as to why Colin Kaepernick has not signed a contract as a NFL free agent. The reasons that make sense focus around health and production, the reasons that don’t are his protests, his charity, he’s a vegan. The really sad part is that the health and production are probably not the problem, and NFL teams are legitimately black balling him for the other reasons listed.
Colin Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers on March 3. Since then, there hasn’t been so much as a whisper that would indicate he was close to being signed by any of the NFL’s other franchises.
There have been plenty of reasons cited for Kaepernick’s unemployment, some more ridiculous than others. All of them unnecessary. And while excuses for not signing Kaepernick keep popping up, players that don’t match his skills nor have the experience he does — like Josh McCown, Brian Hoyer, Mark Sanchez, and Nick Foles — have all received contracts this offseason.
Kaepernick has played in two NFC Championships, and one Super Bowl where the 49ers were just yards short of a victory. Nobody else mentioned comes close to that experience, and the numbers he put up.
We’re going to keep tabs on those reasons for Kaepernick’s lack of a deal. It’s a blackballing that is not only unfortunate, but shows the lengths that NFL teams will go to in order to keep him out of the game.
One of the biggest stories from the 2016 NFL season was Kaepernick’s decision to protest the oppression of minorities in the United States by taking a knee during the national anthem. His actions caused a wave of protests around the country, helping bring an awareness towards police brutality and other problems minorities face.
Despite saying he would be standing for the national anthem in 2017, Kaepernick remains unsigned.
An AFC general manager told Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman, “[NFL teams] genuinely hate him and can’t stand what he did [kneeling for the national anthem]. They want nothing to do with him. They won’t move on. They think showing no interest is a form of punishment. I think some teams also want to use Kaepernick as a cautionary tale to stop other players in the future from doing what he did.”
As far as it being a distraction goes, former 49ers coach Chip Kelly doesn’t buy it.
“There was zero distraction,” Kelly told The MMQB. “He met with the team immediately after [his first protest]. He met with the other team leaders. He explained his position and where he was coming from. And literally, that was it. Colin was focused on football. He was all about the team and trying to help us win.”
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
