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May 30, 2017
Peter Solari, Contributing Editor Follow @4PeteSakeNY
OTAs are underway, training camp is just around the corner, and before you know it, a new NFL season will be underway. But controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick is still a free agent, and the media is blowing a proverbial gasket because the face of their political agenda is facing serious consequences for his actions.
Last Thursday on ESPN's "Mike & Mike" simulcast, guest and talking head, Michael Wilbon, lamented about the America-hating Kaepernick being "blackballed" by NFL owners for his protest of the national anthem and belittling of a country that has made him a millionaire. You can listen to Wilbon's entire response below. The clip is kind of long (5:29), but it's well worth a listen. The relevant portion is the first three minutes, but for a full dose of lunacy, listen all the way through to hear Wilbon attempt to make the delusional case that the media, including ESPN, is hesitant to stand up for Kaepernick because they fear repercussions from the NFL. He said this mere seconds after he, a media member and ESPN employee, went to bat for Kaepernick by attacking the NFL and its owners.
Also on Thursday, in Sports Illustrated, Jenny Vrentas quoted New York Giants co-owner, John Mara, who said of the Kaepernick situation:
“All my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue. 'If any of your players ever do that, we are never coming to another Giants game.' It wasn’t one or two letters. It was a lot. It’s an emotional, emotional issue for a lot of people, moreso than any other issue I’ve run into.”
Mara's comments prompted Ray Marcano to write the following for FanBuzz on Monday:
"So there you have it. An owner finally has the guts to admit that Kaepernick remaining unsigned has more to do with politics than ability. Mara noted that Kaepernick was never a consideration for the Giants, who instead signed the underwhelming Geno Smith as Eli Manning’s caddy.
But there may also be a sea change when it comes to the NFL admitting why Kaepernick is still out of a job. It’s now the second on-the-record comment in which a team has said Kaepernick remaining unemployed has nothing to do with talent. Jim Caldwell, the head coach of the Detroit Lions, recently said Kaepernick is clearly capable of playing in a league starved for quarterback talent."
Both Wilbon and Marcano appear to be under the impression it's some sort of big secret that teams and fans across the NFL, are put-off by Kaepernick's rhetoric. It's not. As a matter of fact, Kaepernick's America-bashing antics are the only reasons anybody, including Wilbon, Marcano, and myself, are and have been talking about him, so why shouldn't NFL franchises take the same factors into consideration, before throwing millions of dollars at him? And who said they weren't?
The NFL is a product and the fans are its consumers. Not too many successful businesses thrive by blowing their customers off, and the NFL is no different. While some in the media take offense to teams doing their due-diligence on free agents, most fans actually appreciate it. Who is Mike Wilbon to demand an NFL franchise sign Kaepernick, regardless economic and public relations impacts, so he can advance a political narrative?
When you weigh the risks (ticked off fans and a media circus) of signing Kaepernick to sit on your bench and hold a clipboard, against the reward for doing so (???), it's a losing proposition. This is a good time to underscore the fact that, at this point in his career, Kaepernick has been relegated to a backup quarterback, and isn't in a position to demand anything from anyone.
We've come a long way from March, when Kaepernick opted out of his deal with the 49ers because he, and his cheerleaders in the media, thought a starting job and more money were waiting on the horizon with another team. That was a crucial miscalculation, and Kaepernick is paying the price for it. And while Wilbon bemoans other "inferior" backups with thinner resumes, his complaints are falling on deaf ears. Because, once again, we're talking about backups.
The most that any organization can hope to get out of their backup QB, is never taking a meaningful snap. For most teams, losing their starter for any significant time, likely means the season is over anyway. The NFL is a quarterbacks league and offenses are built around the position. Where's the benefit for any team to pay a little extra, to bring Kaepernick on in this role? This is another area where the media gets it wrong.
Both Wilbon and Marcano argue that Kaepernick's "ability," or lack thereof, isn't a factor in teams' hesitancy to sign him, but such a notion is silly. It's just not the only factor.
Does anybody believe that if it were Russell Wilson, and not Kaepernick, entering free agency after trashing America and disrespecting the Star Spangled Banner, that no team would take a chance on signing him? Of course not. Wilson is an elite quarterback.
How about Michael Vick? Granted, Vick didn't upset nearly as many people as Kaepernick did, but there was undoubtedly backlash against the Eagles for giving him a second chance, and plenty of fans were angry. However, at the end of the day, the reward outweighed the risk, and the Eagles probably made the right decision. At the very least, they weren't hurt by it. But Kaepernick isn't Russell or Vick, and therein lies his problem.
Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy summed up Kaepernick's situation perfectly on May 18th when he told "The Dan Patrick Show":
“Yes, it all stems back to not [standing] for the national anthem and the reaction that that’s going to get from fans. But if people perceived Colin Kaepernick as a difference maker, as a guy who could be their starting quarterback and help them win games, he would be signed now and people would deal with the repercussions. I think everybody sees him maybe as a backup. Is he a guy who can really help us? Am I just going to get three or four games a year? If that’s the case, it’s not worth the headache, it’s not worth the distraction, it’s not worth the number of fans we would turn off.”
Of course Kaepernick's politics are one of the driving forces behind his status as an unsigned free agent who is garnering little-to-no interest. But to suggest it's the only factor, while "ability" isn't even being considered, is nonsensical. The bottom line is that if Kaepernick were anything more than a middle-of-the-road backup quarterback, he'd already be on a roster and participating in OTAs. But he's not, so he isn't. The risk is greater than the reward.
As far as the media goes, this is just another example of how truly out of touch they are with the average fan. While most of the NFL's faithful are celebrating their favorite teams avoiding Kaepernick like the plague, many in the press are whining about perceived injustices and pointing to illogical conspiracy theories as proof. But in a league that puts its bottom line above all else, the voices of millions of consumers, will carry just a little bit farther than a couple of political activists disguised as journalists, and a handful of radical partisans congregating on the streets of New York City.
For the press, this is all par for the course. Don't forget, these are the same journalists who built Michael Sam up to be a mythical figure, only to have it all come crashing down when it was discovered that Sam, like Kaepernick, wasn't all that good at football.
In the aftermath of that debacle, media members just moved on to the next cause, with virtually no regard for the damage they caused. But make no mistake; the damage had most definitely been done. A little over a week ago, former Cleveland Browns CEO Joe Banner told SiriusXM NFL Radio that he believes Sam's unsuccessful pro football journey, has made other gay players more hesitant to come out. So who was the winner in this grand social experiment? Well, nobody was.
Sam's professional football career is, for all intents and purposes, over, and the plight of gay athletes everywhere, has hit a major speed bump. The media, unsurprisingly, comes out the most unscathed. Sure, their credibility took another hit, but has that ever stopped them from just picking up, and moving on to the next cause?
With all this in mind, is it really so hard to believe that, for the press, Colin Kaepernick is nothing more than a foot soldier, being sent to die on a hill?
UPDATE 06/03/2017:
I discussed this topic on the most recent episode of For Pete's Sake: The Podcast, recorded on May 30th. You can listen to episode 14 in its entirety below.For Pete’s Sake: The Podcast is available on iTunes, TuneIn, Soundcloud, Internet Archiver, Podomatic, and at 4PeteSake.net.
