The NFL is really hard to figure out. Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned after two years, but the Redskins dug deep to bring Josh Johnson out of retirement to relieve Mark Sanchez in a miserable performance this past Sunday. Johnson hadn't had an NFL football snap since 2012, and had to quickly learn his teammate's names after being signed last week when Colt McCoy went down.
Dan Snyder had no problem signing Reuben Foster, who had been released by San Francisco as a result of domestic violence charges. But, it was ixnay on Kaepernick when McCoy crumbled to the ground two weeks ago. Instead, the Redskins went with Sanchez who has roved around the league almost as much as Johnson. Mark is probably most famous for his butt fumble against New England three years ago, and for pissing away Philadelphia's playoff chances two years ago when Carson Wentz went down. The Redskins were sitting pretty a few weeks ago at 6-3 atop in the NFC East. Now they are 6-7 thanks to the combined efforts of McCoy, Sanchez and Johnson. Yet, still no mention of Kaepernick, even after the drubbing they took Sunday.
The Redskins aren't alone in dismissing Kaepernick. Minnesota was 13-3 last year and felt the only thing that kept them from reaching the Super Bowl was a top notch quarterback. You'd think they might be interested in Kaepernick but instead spent $84 million on Kirk Cousins, formerly of the Hapless Redskins, and are now 6-6-1 after a humiliating loss to Seattle last night.
Even my favorite Seahawks aren't exempt. They similarly took a pass on Kaepernick last year as a back-up to Russell Wilson, citing salary cap concerns. At that point, Kaepernick wouldn't have cost the 'Hawks more than two million a year, but Coach Pete felt Colin deserved better than to sit on the bench. The Seattle front office took another look at Colin in the off-season but said no again when he refused to give up his protests.
Arizona has been looking all over the league for a replacement to injury-prone Carson Palmer, who finally retired last year. They have tried a handful of quarterbacks, none very successful. They even tried Blaine Gabbert last year, who briefly started in place of Colin only to get benched in favor of Kaepernick during his last season at San Francisco. The Cardinals are tied with San Francisco with the worst record in the NFL. Gabbert is now a backup at Tennessee.
Still, the NFL owners claim there is no collusion in not hiring Kaepernick, who has sat out of the league two years after being let go by San Francisco at the end of the 2016 season. This is going to end up a big lawsuit as it is pretty hard to explain why teams would take woeful journeymen like Gabbbert, Sanchez, Johnson and many others over Kaepernick, who led San Francisco to the Super Bowl in 2013, only to fall just short of the Baltimore Ravens.
No, the Redskins would rather have wife-beaters like Foster and child-beaters like Adrian Peterson than someone who had the audacity to kneel for the national anthem in protest of police violence. Oh, and some guy named Josh Johnson, whom I'm sure no one had heard about until this past Sunday when Mark Sanchez had put the Redskins in a 40-0 hole. To Johnson's credit, he posted two touchdowns.
The odd thing is that players continue to kneel for the national anthem, although you don't hear much about it anymore as Trump has collusion problems of his own. Other famous kneelers like Michael Bennett and Eric Reid continue to play in the league, but not Colin. He's considered too much of a lightning rod, and no team wants to deal with the fallout from such an acquisition, not even Seattle, which is as famous for its liberal attitude as for its coffee. In fact, the front office let go of Bennett, along with Richard Sherman during the off-season, so as to have fewer distractions on the team. Bennett ended up at Philadelphia and the ever-vocal Sherman at San Francisco, where he remains a staunch defender of Kaepernick. Richard never could understand why Seattle didn't take Colin when they had the chance.
To Colin's credit, he's not giving up. He still has the support of many players and even a few coaches around the league, but ultimately it is the owners' call on whether he gets taken back or not. He did have a chance to play in the Canadian Football League, but turned it down. There will be a new football league starting next Spring, the Alliance of American Football or AAF for short. However, it looks more like a minor league effort with only eight teams, and I doubt Colin will be anymore interested in playing for the Orlando Apollos than he was the Montreal Alouettes.
For now, he is content with the ad campaign he is doing for Nike, which according to Vox has been a huge success for the sportswear giant. I'm not exactly sure what he sacrificed in this lucrative deal, but I guess it is the thought that counts. Nike is never one to shy away from controversy. Just too bad they don't show more concern for all the child laborers who make their sports shoes and clothes.
As for the NFL, it has gone out of their way to show their allegiance by sponsoring lavish anthem ceremonies and offering a huge line of armed forces-inspired apparel. This is a symbiotic deal worth a crazy amount of money. The NFL doesn't need guys like Colin mucking it up.
In the end, it's all about the money, and Colin is no more immune to this than anyone else. After all, he is not criticizing Nike's child labor practices. He's more recognizable now than he ever was. His rogue jerseys are selling off the racks, with profits presumably going to charity. It's a notoriety that suits him whether or not he ever gets a chance to play for an NFL team again.
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