There are just a few weeks left of the regular season in the NFL and then the playoffs will kick off. The football season has been competitive, unpredictable, and grueling. Many players have gone through injuries unfortunately and the team’s playoff chances are on the line now. An individual who has yet to be picked up or recruited by any team is Colin Kaepernick.
For people who don’t know, Kaepernick was the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers years ago and he is still without a job in the NFL. He was criticized greatly for his on/off the field actions to fight against corruption and police brutality throughout the country. Even more, he caused a widespread kneeling for the national anthem across the league. The 49ers QB started this trend and thought he should kneel because of the unfairness going on in the country.
Photo from Pixabay by KeithJJ
Everyone has their own opinion whether it was right or not for Kaepernick to do this. He did make some questionable decisions in wearing a Fidel Castro shirt and calling him a great leader and other actions. However, there is no question in my mind that Colin should have a job in the NFL. People forget that this was a player who almost led the 49ers to a Super Bowl and who is athletic, can throw the ball, and read opposing defenses.
Colin Kaepernick also has donated money to charities in the past for good causes. An article by The Washington Post written by Kent Babb lists the QB’s donation, “he announced on social media his latest $100,000 donation to charity; since last autumn he has fulfilled $900,000 of a $1 million pledge to organizations fighting oppression.” So, he is a nice individual for devoting his time and money to fight for these good causes.
What Kaepernick ultimately did was sacrifice his own job and career to fight for minorities and protest police brutality. Whatever you want to say about him, he was exercising his first amendment rights in using freedom of speech, but it’s sad that it cost him his career and dream. It is yet to be seen whether he will be signed next year. This season alone, there was plenty of QB’s that don’t belong in the league or as a starter. Some QB’s were injured or traded and he still wasn’t signed by a team, for example, the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans.
Because of Kaepernick, the NFL agreed to donate 100 million dollars over 7 years to social justice causes. An article in the New York Post lists the specifics of the money going to “projects concerning criminal justice system, law enforcement, community relations and education.” These 4 pillars are excellent to donate money to because they have their many issues. Education is a key foundation for any individual to have and fixing the criminal justice system is great because of its flaws like other issues above.
This agreement could have rightly been put into to stop the national anthem protests across the league which has caused the backlash across the world. People believe it is disrespectful to the military and country itself. The president has voiced his opinion about the matter as well believing it is disrespectful and should not be tolerated at all.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
What he was fighting for was actually great too in my opinion because there is a lot of corruption or injustice placed on minorities in this country. Now, no country is perfect, although there needs to be a change. In my opinion, Colin has been blackballed this whole time because he deserves to be a starter or at least be a backup for another team. Team owners and other team representatives are surely blocking him from being placed on a team. The sad part is that the 30-year-old player can play and he is not given the chance because of his stance and the fact of him causing distractions wherever he would go. Your job should not be stripped away for speaking your opinion on a matter. He should not be unsigned, but his mission was not in vain, and he is a pure example of a man who sacrificed his dream and career for something greater and bigger than a sport.