What's the hardest position to play in sports? Some say it is the goalkeeper in soccer, while others say it is the catcher in baseball, however most believe that it is the quarterback in American football. That is why names such as Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, and Derek Carr along with other quarterbacks around the league have been guaranteed tens of millions of dollars, in some cases hundreds of millions to play for their teams in the years to come. Meet Colin Kaepernick, a mobile 29 year-old free agent quarterback with the fifth best touchdown to interception ratio in NFL history, for those of you who do not know what that means just know that it is really good. Most of you have probably heard of the protests going on in the NFL the last two years, well the man that started it all was none other than Mr. Kaepernick himself. He chose to take a knee in a peaceful gesture attempting to use his platform to change a nations social conscience. Whether you agree or disagree with his public protest during the national anthem to spotlight police brutality on people of color, he did bring a lot of attention to it. During the time of the protests the NFL's T.V. ratings went down and the league lost millions of dollars in revenue. Whether the league acknowledges it or not they have a problem, and unless they soon realize how to get players and owners to work together on it, their product will undoubtedly continue to suffer.
For quite a bit of time now African-American players in the NFL have voiced their anger that, in their opinion the NFL owners are effectively blackballing Colin Kaepernik on the sole means of his political stance. They are not wrong in their anger as lots of evidence supports their conclusion. 1. Far less talented quarterbacks have signed with new teams while Kaepernick remains unsigned. 2. Multiple owners from around the league have been critical of Kaepernick's form of protest. 3. President Donald Trump has attacked Kaepernick repeatedly in many forms. He has not been charged with a crime, nor has he been accused of breaking any aspect of the NFL's cba. He has done nothing but exercise his right of peaceful protest which is protected by the constitution. He plays the most valuable position in sports and he has shown he could excel in it before. So how could you argue anything other than he is being blackballed as a reason that he is still a free-agent?
One of the main reasons T.V. ratings have gone down is that people have disagreed with the protests of Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players because they believed these players were disrespecting the flag by kneeling while the national anthem was being played before every game. And who could blame them, they heard it from President Trump Himself when tweeting about a weekend of NFL protests saying, "If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues he or she should not be allowed to disrespect … our Great American Flag and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU’RE FIRED. Find something else to do!” The president in this context has misrepresented the situation, as the players are not protesting the National Anthem but rather they are protesting police brutality against African Americans. This tweet among other items contributed to widespread decline of viewership in which the league had a loss of revenue.
Now let's focus on the NFL owners, who possess the cash and spotlight to provoke change – as well as the means to give Kaepernick a job. Owners want to raise their bank balance. By people tuning in and loving the NFL shield. In the past, they believed they would be able to control the effects of Kaepernick's protest by simply not signing him and letting fade into unemployment. As they thought that what he was doing would in no way affect their money due to the many fans who would want him to simply shut up and play. Well it has affected their money and now numerous players such as Malcolm Jenkins, Marshawn Lynch, and Michael Bennett have joined him and through this time the narrative has changed from, "Who will stand with him?" To now, "Who could possibly stand against him?" The time is now for Owners and players to unite as one and use their outstretching resources to not only accomplish their goal but also to return the NFL to the glowing product that so many love.
Now just recently a big first step was made in that the NFL owners along with the NFLPA have agreed to a $90 million deal to fund the players' activism efforts and to support them in doing so. Now this is just the first step, and lots of work still has to be done but the future looks bright for the players in their activism efforts as well as for the NFL in the years to come.
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Works Cited
Garber, Megan. “They Took a Knee.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company 24 Sept. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/why-the-nfl-is-protesting/540927/.
HBO, director. Hard Knocks. Hard Knocks, HBO, 2001, www.hbo.com/hard-knocks.
Reid, Jason. “We May Have Seen the Last of Colin Kaepernick in the NFL.” The Undefeated, The Undefeated, 7 June 2017, theundefeated.com/features/we-may-have-seen-the-last-of-colin-kaepernick-in-the-nfl/.
Smith, Stephen A. “The NFL Has a Kaepernick Problem That’s Bigger than Just Kaepernick Now.” The Undefeated, The Undefeated, 17 Aug. 2017, theundefeated.com/features/nfl-has-kaepernick-problem-thats-bigger-than-just-kaepernick-now/.
Snyder, Deron. “SNYDER: If Kaepernick Can Play, Why Isn’t That Enough?” The Washington Times, The Washington Times, 7 Aug. 2017, www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/7/colin-kaepernick-can-play-why-isnt-enough/.
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