Kaep Strikes Back

Colin Kaepernick, former 49ers QB and civil rights activist has recently been in the limelight again after Trump suggested owners should fire NFL players who protest the national anthem, which in turn sparked protests from more NFL players, teams, and owners. A few weeks later, after Marcus Mariota went down with a hamstring, the Tennessee Titans were in the perfect position to offer Kaep a contract, but instead they went with Brandon Weeden, who has a less than stellar career. This made people wonder why the Titans would choose Weeden over Kaep, who led a team to the Super Bowl. The Titans blamed it on “familiarity”, but Kaep isn’t buying it.

Over the weekend, Colin Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL, claiming the owners are colluding to keep him out of a job and out of the league. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported on what Kaepernick is looking to accomplish with the grievance:

“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Kaepernick wants to trigger termination of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“Article 69, Section 2 of the CBA allows for the agreement to be terminated prematurely in the event of proof of collusion. Under Article 17, Section 16(c) of the CBA, termination can arise from only one incident of collusion involving only one player if there is clear and convincing evidence of a violation.”

Kaepernick’s attorney, Mark Geragos, released a statement on why the grievance was filed, via Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network:

Kaepernick opted out of his contract at the end of last season and has received surprisingly little interest compared to how well he played last season. He finished the year with 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions in 12 games.

The 29-year-old was notably the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem at the start of last season as a protest against racial injustice. The media attention is a holdup for several organizations. As former Tennessee Titans general manager Floyd Reese recently explained to 102.5 The Game (via Jason Wolf of the Tennessean), “You don’t want this circus.” (Bleacher Report)

However, Commissioner Roger Goodell has denied there has been any blackballing of the quarterback:

“I believe that if a football team feels that Colin Kaepernick, or any other player, is going to improve that team, they’re going to do it,” he said in June, via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com.

It is being reported that Colin Kaepernick’s lawsuit against the NFL will heavily discuss the impact of President Donald Trump, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. His recent lawsuit suggests Trump helped foster this negative culture toward him. La Canfora noted the plan to discuss Trump’s role in influencing teams, noting his relationship with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (Bleacher Report).

With the recent devastating injury to Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers, who suffered a broken collarbone last weekend, Kaep might get a chance, but this lawsuit has the power to keep him out of the league for a long time.

What do you guys think? His work as an activist is so important, is it worth jeopardizing that for another shot in the NFL? In a perfect world, he could do both, not sure if that’s possible though.

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