Full disclosure: my NFL teams are the Browns and the Packers, then a gap to the Falcons and Colts.
We are going to play “Compare the NFL Quarterbacks, 2016 Stats”. QB #1 is blue, #2 is purple, and #3 is orange:
Games Played, Completion %, and Yards (leading stat is bolded):
14 Games, 228 of 403 – 56.6%, 2710 Yards
12 Games, 196 of 331 – 59.2%, 2241 Yards
15 Games, 301 of 510 – 59.0%, 2,957 Yards
Touchdowns-Interceptions, Quarterback Rating:
12 TDs-17 Ints, 69.6
16 TDs-4 Ints, 90.7
15 TDs-16 Ints, 72.2
Sacked/Yards Lost, Fumbles/Fumbles Lost:
19 Sacks/81 Yds Lost
36 Sacks/207 Yds Lost
27 Sacks/206 Yds Lost
One of these QBs is the subject of this post: Colin Kaepernick.
It is June 29th, 2017. Kaepernick is still unemployed.
I have seen, read, and heard a multitude of reasons for his lack of a team uniform this year, from the semi-reasonable to the flat-out idiotic.
(in no particular order)
#1: “He is a horrible person/he is selfish/he is doing it to only promote himself.”
Where is your proof? He speaks out against police brutality, doesn’t kneel for the Anthem, and he’s “a horrible person”? Ok… what about every single person in the stands that not only don’t stand, but don’t take off their caps, face the flag, and stand with their hands over their hearts? Seems like I saw this level of idiocy with the Olympic Gymnastic team last year.
#2: “He’s a distraction/he’s not a good teammate.”
The WordPress Defense presents Exhibit Number 1:
Colin Kaepernick wins 49ers prestigious Eshmont Award
It is the first time in Kaepernick’s six seasons he has won any of the 49ers’ team awards and not just the Eshmont, which players vote upon for the teammate who best exemplifies the inspirational and courageous play of Len Eshmont, a member of their 1946 founding team.
And Exhibit #2, an interview with former 49ers coach Chip Kelly. Of particular interest is this quote:
There were some players that agreed with him and there were some players that didn’t agree with him. But after that point, we heard from the outside about what a distraction it is, except those people weren’t in our locker room and it never was a distraction. And Kap never brought that and turned it into a circus or whatever people think.
#3: He’s lost interest in football.
I honestly did not know that this was a legitimate gripe about Kaepernick until today. How does someone sitting at a keyboard, or sitting 60 rows deep in a stadium, determine how interested someone is at a game, especially if that person didn’t state their interest level?
Enter Exhibit #4: Interview With Jon Lynch
An excerpt:
“I also, in my private conversations, and I won’t communicate too much of what we’ve talked about, but I will communicate that I gave that opinion to Colin myself. I think, you are having a little bit of an image crisis in terms of not so much what you did last year, but people are wondering, is this most important to you”
I guess, if you want to consider this donation, these donations, or this donation “not being interested in football”, you could be right.
So, for the Slow Mutants in the back:
- His teammates voted for him for a team award
- His former coach shot down both the “distraction” and “bad teammate” angles
- The 49ers GM stated that, in an interview with him, Kapernick is still interested in playing in the NFL
We return to the 3 QB numbers that I posted at the beginning.
QB #1 – 14 Games, 228 of 403 – 56.6%, 2710 Yards; 12 TDs-17 Ints, 69.6; 19 Sacks/81 Yds Lost
QB #2 – 12 Games, 196 of 331 – 59.2%, 2241 Yards; 16 TDs-4 Ints, 90.7; 36 Sacks/207 Yds Lost
QB #3 – 15 Games, 301 of 510 – 59.0%, 2,957 Yards; 15 TDs-16 Ints, 72.2; 27 Sacks/206 Yds Lost
QB #1 is current Tampa Bay quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
QB #3 is current Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Brock Osweiller.
QB #2 is unemployed quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
So, if he’s endorsed by a current team GM former coach, praised by former team mates, and put his money where his mouth was by donating to charities he was protesting for (among others), and put up decent enough numbers in 2016 (coming off of an injury, by the way), but still is without a team, then the only reasons he is unemployed, and the only reasons he is getting hate from ‘keyboard warriors’:
He is being Blackballed by the NFL
and/or
He is experiencing system-wide discrimination, over the fact that dared to speak out and *gasp!* didn’t stand for the National Anthem.
Those are it. There are no other legitimate options. He is not a horrible QB, his numbers in 2016 were not horrible… but your reasons for the unemployment are horrible and ridiculous.
The Nexus 