In the midst of the seemingly endless tirade of negative information about football players, from their many cases of domestic violence to the news about the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs, Colin Kaepernick shines as a beacon of positivity. Kaepernick is a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers who recently gained widespread admiration (and admonition) for choosing to kneel during the National Anthem at his football games.
He has consistently shown incredible social awareness, not just for African-Americans, but for Native Americans and women as well. Kaepernick regularly donates millions of dollars to organizations that help improve the lives of at-risk youth and young people of color. He also utilizes his social media accounts, particularly his Instagram page, to promote positive messages about people of color and women. He regularly spreads messages about positive African-American role models, and about positive female role models of all races and ethnicities, reminding people about important figures during Black History Month and Women’s History Month.
Most importantly, though, Kaepernick became well known due to his decision to kneel during the National Anthem in protest of police brutality against African-Americans. This silent protest brought a great deal of positive and negative attention and sparked a debate about whether or not this exercise of Kaepernick's right to free speech is moral.
After all of Kaepernick’s activism and openness, it is difficult not to suspect foul play when three weeks into the National Football League’s Free Agency Period, he has not yet received a deal. Could this suspicious lack of offers be as a result of his open civil rights positions? We cannot yet be sure, but that possibility is difficult to ignore.
According to FiveThirtyEight, which published an article comparing Kaepernick’s player statistics to that of other players in the NFL, “since 1966, only one under-30 quarterback has had as good a year as Kaepernick, yet gone unsigned the next year.” While Kaepernick’s overall Quarterback Rating does not rank him among the elite, “It’s hard to find a recent free-agent QB who played at Kaepernick’s level and lasted so long on the market the next offseason.”
It is very odd that Kaepernick has not been picked up yet. It is entirely possible that there are many factors that led to his exceedingly long free agency, but it is difficult to imagine that his suspicious lack of offers has nothing to do with his political activism. According to FiveThirtyEight, “If Kaepernick begins the season without a team, history says it’s unlikely to be for football reasons.” There could be a number of reasons why Kaepernick has not yet been picked up, such as the fact that his QBR for in-pocket plays has not been stellar over the past few seasons, but if he ends without a team by the beginning of the next season, it will be most likely because the NFL found that his exercise of free speech created too much bad press.
