I Don't Agree With It...But I Understand

Before you tell Kaepernick to "go back to Africa" or jump headlong to his defense there are a few things you should consider. (Photo: thecollegetailgate.com)

After Jim Harbaugh was forced out of the organization in 2014, Kaepernick found himself on an island.  If you watched 49ers football after he earned the starting QB job, Harbaugh seemed to be his biggest, if not only fan.  With the only buffer between him and his teammates gone, the 2015 season was predictably disastrous.  The 49ers have been trying to trade him, per his request, all off-season.

What does any of this have to do with his refusal to stand?

Everything.  Since Chip Kelly became the coach, Kaepernick's days in a San Francisco uniform have been numbered despite what's been said publicly.  Blaine Gabbert, a QB who's skills are a better fit for head coach Chip Kelly's offense, is rumored to have the inside track on the starting job.  Reports out of San Francisco labeled the former star as problematic in the locker room, behaving as if he was already on the way out and not really involved in the team's game plan.  So what do you do if you're a football player who can't play football?  The obvious answer is "be a professional and do what they pay you to do."  I've watched football long enough, however, to know its a mental grind to prepare every week for 16 weeks as if you're going to play and then hold a clipboard on game day.  It's very easy to lose focus, especially when your new head coach has been accused by multiple former players of being a racist.

Chip Kelly and Riley Cooper (Photo: phillyinfluencer.com)

When he was the Eagles head coach/general manager, Chip Kelly refused to discipline Riley Cooper for being caught on camera at a Kenny Chesney concert saying that he would "fight every nigger here." In fact, he was re-signed to a 5 year $22.5 million deal that was grossly disproportionate to his talent level.  Instead, Chip traded away the Eagles best and most outspoken black players during the the following 3 off seasons.  In 2015, long time Eagle and star running back LeSean McCoy said Kelly "got rid of all the good black players" after he was traded to Buffalo. Brandon Boykin, the Eagles' starting cornerback, said after he was traded to Pittsburgh, "[he] is uncomfortable around grown men of our culture."  In 2013 star wide reciever DeSean Jackson pointed out that he was released after his best season for the team.  Sports media blasted the move and the Eagles tried to justify it by launching a smear campaign to tie him to gang activity in his old  California hometown rather than anything football related.  Wide reciever Jeremy Maclin had his best statistical season after Jackson's release but Kelly didn't keep him either, refusing to match a reasonable offer sheet from the Kansas City Chiefs that would have kept him in Philly.  Even a former Eagles assistant coach and player Tra Thomas couldn't help but point out how many players felt there was a "hint of racism" in Kelly's locker room even if they didn't say it publicly.

It's not so far fetched to think that a man who feels as isolated as Kaepernick, who's star has fallen so far, who has seemingly lost his purpose, could see the hiring of Kelly as the final straw.  I'm not suggesting that football players can't be fully engaged in their jobs and care about social issues.  What I am saying is that when you have a burning desire to win, as I assume most NFL players have, and your primary vehicle for achieving that sense of victory is taken from you, no one seems to be in your corner, and your new boss is a man who's known for have issues with black men, it's not far fetched that Kaepernick could suddenly change his focus.

Why do you doubt his sincerity?

I don't.  At least I don't doubt that he believes he's being sincere.  I just wonder if his professional life was in order, would he be saying anything?  It doesn't make his statements and his assessment of our current climate any less true.  But would he be saying anything if his job was secure?  An article on Businessinsider.com notes that Kaepernick's social media postings were pretty typical for a young athlete until last October, when they turned decidedly more pro-black.  That's about a month before his poor play got him benched in favor of Blaine Gabbert.  Trayvon Martin, Rekiya Boyd, Ramarley Graham, and Kenneth Chamberlain were all killed when he was still basking in the glow of a Super Bowl run in 2012 not saying a word.  LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul have all taken stances vocally denouncing police brutality and all are not only in still the prime of their careers/influence, they're doing it while still respecting our country's traditions.  This is something I can't have selective memory about as if his not standing is the only way to bring attention to an issue that's getting more attention than ever before.  No, he's not the first athlete to do it and probably won't be the last.  I can say, however, that Kaepernick's stunt, whether he intended to or not, is drawing more attention to himself rather than the cause.

So you agree that he should leave if he doesn't like the opportunities he's been given in America, right?

Please.  Delving into the hypocrisy of that statement would be longer than a grad school dissertation. There is nothing black people have in the United States that hasn't been paid for in blood.  Statements like that come from the same mindset that thinks black folks should be thanking America for "saving" us from Africa via the slave trade.  If you think that, then you should be thanking us for the Tuskeegee Airmen, Dr. Charles Drew, Fredrick Douglass, George Washington Carver, and all the money and power you've enjoyed from centuries of our forced labor.  He's American.  He has the same right to free speech and protest that these guys do...

It's his birthright as much as it is yours.  His play and hard work earned his spot on the team just like his play is costing it.  Gratitude has nothing to do with it.


Why don't they just cut him?


I'll let Yahoo! Sports Charles Robinson explain...

So the 49ers have financial protection to keep Kaepernick. But there is also some financial incentive to release him. What couldn’t be foreseen in all this contract planning was the protest twist, which adds another element of drama to the equation. While the 49ers have stated their support for Kaepernick’s stance, there is an underlying reality that exists for virtually every NFL team (aside from maybe the Dallas Cowboys). Most front offices and coaching staffs attempt to practice drama-avoidance when it comes to a team’s makeup. While exceptions happen for exceptional players, backups are rarely afforded significant breaks. And right now, Kaepernick is a seemingly fading backup who has lingering physical issues and future salaries that don’t match his contributions. Teams rarely go out of their way to accommodate players like that.This is where the 49ers run into a mess of converging issues. While Kaepernick’s football state and future salaries would suggest a departure is the wisest choice, there is now an optics problem. While the team would surely suggest cutting Kaepernick is a football-only decision, there will be no shortage of skeptics who suggest the move is related to his protest or social views. It also doesn’t help that Kelly suffered criticism from NFL players in the past, over such roster decisions as the retention of Philadelphia Eagles wideout Riley Cooper (after he used a racial epithet) and the jettisoning of LeSean McCoy, who condemned Kelly’s relationship with black players. -- Charles Robinson 8/29/16 Yahoo! Sports "How big are the consequences for the 49ers if they cut Colin Kaepernick?"

In a nutshell, it would look really really bad if they cut him now.

So what's your point?

My point is that I've seen what real sports activism looks like.  Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and LeBron James are consistent not only with their time but with their money and their words.  They haven't only done it when its convenient or have anything to gain.

The difference between a moment and a movement is sacrifice.

Was Kaepernick's act brave?  Does he have the right to do it?  Is his argument true?  Absolutely on all three counts, but the idea that he's simply woken up to the struggles his people ignores the larger context of his life right now.  He's soon to be a man without a job and that was before he "took a stand."  If that's what he wants to do with the next phase of his life and he's choosing now to set that up, more power to him.  I'm just not ready to jump on the bandwagon until I see some consistency and I know his motives are clear.  The messenger matters as much as the message and I think we need a better spokesman.

Agree/Disagree?  Think I'm full of it?  Sound off the the comment section below!  Don't forget to like share and subscribe if you want to see more posts like this.  

...Til Next Week!