Vegan diet. Too skinny. Too high of an asking price.
These are all excuses used by NFL general managers and owners to explain why Colin Kaepernick hasn’t been signed.
Colin Kaepernick made noise last season for his year-long protest or kneeling during the National Anthem, which caused a huge controversy throughout the nation.
That controversy seems to have affected Kaepernick’s offseason as he is among a short list of available free agent quarterbacks left.
According to Wikipedia, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with any club or franchise; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. In sports this is when any team is allowed to basically interview any free agent players without punishment.
This offseason has come with the harsh reality that a non-diverse ownership in the NFL has played a role in Kaepernick not being signed.
Based off of my count there are five African-American General Managers employed in the NFL out of 32 teams. There are no African-American owners in the league.
A lack of diversity allows for only one viewpoint to be seen, which right now is only a white view point.
Due to public opinion and nonminority ownership, his silent protest is being overlooked and only viewed as a “Non-American” protest of a sacred tradition. A tradition that symbolizes freedom of speech.
Which in turn is preventing Kaepernick from being signed.
The NFL’s free agency period has been open since March 9. That’s six weeks of a decent starting quarterback that hasn’t even been interviewed by an NFL team.
In a league where the starting quarterback is the most important position on an entire roster, with every team scrambling just to find a solid backup quarterback, Kaepernick should have been signed by now.
Mark Sanchez, another signing of the Chicago Bears, played for the Dallas Cowboys last year as the backup to the backup quarterback. Sanchez didn’t even touch the field last season and was signed to a one-year deal worth $2 million.
Both of these quarterbacks were signed before Kaepernick.
Kaepernick led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2012 season. He’s done charitable work, like donating his entire sneaker collection to benefit the homeless and is pledging a million dollars to multiple charities.
The league is still using excuses to keep him from being singed.
One is that Kaepernick is a vegan, but New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady is known for his vegan diet.
Another reason is Kaepernick has a high asking price. Mike Glennon, as discussed earlier, had an asking price of $40 million.
However, league owners have their own agenda Don’t push social issues through public protest and you’ll earn a roster spot.
Time named Kaepernick as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Yet another bad look for the league.