Is Colin Kaepernick being blackballed by the NFL?

[Suburbia]

Whether you agree with his political stance or not, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick spoke his mind by kneeling down while the National Anthem of the U.S. was played at football games. I personally agree with some of his actions, it's a free country, he can say whatever he wants.

He has not been signed by any team since he became a free agent in March 2017. What's going on?

[dead0man]

It's a free country, he can say whatever he wants.

It's a free country, teams can chose to not hire him.

[dead0man]

to expand on that....


How many teams need a QB who may or not bring talent to your team but will certainly bring a ton of controversy that they don't need?

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

It's called being bad at your job. Is Tim Tebow being blackballed?

[Santander]

Pro football players are entertainers. NFL teams are businesses. Businesses can hire whichever entertainers they'd like. (sadly, in the socialist world of American sports, this usually not the case, but the principle stands in this case)

[OSR stands with Israel]

No he isnt , he chose to take a stand on divisive issues while he was at work, which cost the NFL fans.

[pikachu]

Yes, he'd be a decent backup QB.

No he isnt , he chose to take a stand on divisive issues while he was at work, which cost the NFL fans.

How has he cost the NFL fans? If we want to go through a list of reasons why the NFL fan experience can suck, a mediocre quarterback kneeling before a game would be low on the list.

[Modernity has failed us]

It's a free country, he can say whatever he wants.

It's a free country, teams can chose to not hire him.

Objectively, yes. I do find it a little odd that this is such a prevalent topic in both sports and politics. Honestly, if he were to get signed, he'd be making a ton of money to play a dumb game. Who cares?

[Associate Justice PiT]

It's a free country, he can say whatever he wants.

It's a free country, teams can chose to not hire him.

Objectively, yes. I do find it a little odd that this is such a prevalent topic in both sports and politics. Honestly, if he were to get signed, he'd be making a ton of money to play a dumb game. Who cares?

     It is representative of the excessive celebrity-orientation of modern American culture. Why talk about the thorny and difficult topic of the police force's relationship with the members of the community it operates in when we can instead talk about what a professional football player thinks about it? It's inane, but that's what gets people paying attention to your outlet's pieces.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I hope.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Yes, he'd be a decent backup QB.

No he isnt , he chose to take a stand on divisive issues while he was at work, which cost the NFL fans.

How has he cost the NFL fans? If we want to go through a list of reasons why the NFL fan experience can suck, a mediocre quarterback kneeling before a game would be low on the list.

Simple , there are many casual fans who watch the NFL and many of them when they hear of incidents like this may decide to watch other things for just passing their time.

[AN63093]

Maybe a little bit, but it's not because of some grand conspiracy or any concerted effort to keep him out of the league.

It has a lot more to do with the fact that his skill set makes him a good fit for only certain systems, and he's not a better option than who those teams already have.  As a backup option, teams have to evaluate whether he's good enough to warrant both the money and the resulting (and inevitable) media circus that would come along with him, and as of now, no teams have decided that he is.

If he was an elite pocket passer like Brady, or heck, even Philip Rivers level, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[publicunofficial]

Jay Cutler has a job and Kaep doesn't. That's all I'll say.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Jay Cutler has a job and Kaep doesn't. That's all I'll say.

Vanderbilt grads have good reason to be employed....

[Alabama_Indy10]

Yes, he'd be a decent backup QB.

No he isnt , he chose to take a stand on divisive issues while he was at work, which cost the NFL fans.

How has he cost the NFL fans? If we want to go through a list of reasons why the NFL fan experience can suck, a mediocre quarterback kneeling before a game would be low on the list.

Have you looked at their TV ratings lately??

[Devout Centrist]

This is a league that regularly signs domestic abusers and murderers.

So, obviously.

[Beet]

I'll say the same thing I said about the Google controversy: injecting politics at a workplace that's not about politics is a bad idea. Kaepernick can say what he wants off when he's not in his football uniform, but when he's at a game, his job is to be a football player. That being said, he's not being blackballed, he's just not good enough a player to justify the full package he brings to the team (that includes his reputation).

[OSR stands with Israel]

Jay Cutler has a job and Kaep doesn't. That's all I'll say.

Cutler isn't a distraction

[7,052,770]

Obviously yes, but it's not an especially egregious case, considering how he was statistically the 30th best QB in the league last year and already had a reputation for slacking in practice and film study.

Tom Brady, Dak Prescott, Aaron Rodgers, etc., could burn an American flag before every game and keep their jobs.

[Modernity has failed us]

Jay Cutler has a job and Kaep doesn't. That's all I'll say.

Cutler isn't a distraction

Yeah, unless you get distracted by a slew of pick 6's.

[Illiniwek]

Cutler made sense for Miami over Kaepernick for a number of reasons, so throw that argument out the window.

But if you look at his record as a starting quarterback over 2015-16, he's 3-16. I'm sorry but I am not going to be outraged that a 3-16 quarterback doesn't have a job.

[Modernity has failed us]

Cutler made sense for Miami over Kaepernick for a number of reasons, so throw that argument out the window.

But if you look at his record as a starting quarterback over 2015-16, he's 3-16. I'm sorry but I am not going to be outraged that a 3-16 quarterback doesn't have a job.

Devil's advocate and 49ers fan here, it's kind of hard to win games when you have literal Swiss cheese for an O-Line.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Jay Cutler has a job and Kaep doesn't. That's all I'll say.

Vanderbilt grads have good reason to be employed....

Even beyond that, Jay Cutler is a better quarterback than Colin Kaepernick and fits more systems

[Rjjr77]

like any job, you can be mediocre or you can be a problem but you cant be both.

[Reaganfan]

It's a free country, he can say whatever he wants.

It's a free country, teams can chose to not hire him.