Recently, San Francisco quarterback Collin Kaepernick has been in the news for his actions during the singing of the national anthem. If you are unfamiliar with his actions, let me fill you in. Before the start of every professional football game, the national anthem is sung and players typically stand up in order to pay respect to the flag and the country. Well during this preseason Collin Kaeprnick has refused to stand during the playing of the national anthem in order to protest the treatment of people of color in this country. Whether you think his actions are justified or not is a matter of your opinion; however, what does matter is the amount of attention he has bought to himself and organization.
Anybody who follows the NFL knows locker room distractions are a coach’s worst nightmare. There have been many careers prematurely ended because of these off the field distractions. Off the field distractions are anything a player or coach does that brings unwarranted publicity to the team. Some feel like these distractions cause the team to perform poorly and can cause tension within the locker room between certain sects of players. If prolonged tension is present in the locker room then the chemistry of that team will plummet, and chances are they won’t perform too well during the season.
With Collin Kaepernick’s recent actions there has been a lot of media attention in the direction of the San Francisco 49ers. Furthermore his action (sitting down while the national anthem is being played) can cause a huge rift in the locker room. On camera, his teammates might say they support him, but behind the scenes one can only wonder what is going on. Now typically in sports big time players typically get more leniency when it comes to enforcement of team rules. Unfortunately, for Mr. Kaepernick, his struggles in these past few seasons has effectively removed him from that status. By performing his actions, Collin Kaepernick is putting his career on the line. His performance this year will determine his fate in the NFL. Due to his very lucrative contract and poor performance from these recent years Collin Kaepernick has already put himself in an unfavorable situation in that franchise. If you add in the off the field controversy, Collin is in the hot seat. If he does have a subpar year and ends up getting released, then chances of him getting picked up by another team are slim to none since many NFL GM’s have spoken out and condemned his actions. Collins best chance for staying the NFL would be to have an amazing year and make it so that he can’t be cut because he is so valuable to the team.
Personally I see nothing wrong with what Collin did. He believes in something, and he is standing by it firmly. For that I respect him because many people would have rebuffed their statement after the public outcry. His message is pure and I do believe in his cause, now the method in which he presented his cause probably could have been done differently. I’m interested to see how this football season goes, and what the future of Collin Kaepernick will hold.
