OT: John Harbaugh openly reaching out to Kaepernick?
NOT posting because of politics, but because of Harbaugh...also Harbaugh.
Link goes to video, found his statements pretty interesting, especially since the brothers seem to have similar mannerisms. Would be intersting to see how Kaep performed under both brothers!
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20172607/baltimore-ravens-coach-john…
Annnndddd the Ravens just signed David Olsen an hour ago (Played for Jim at Stanford).
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/07/28/reports-ravens-sign-qua…
I imagine he spoke highly of Kaep just to try to help him out because of his relationship with Jim. However, they already have Flacco and Ryan Mallett as their clearcut 1 and 2. Olsen is just going to be a practice/camp hand. No sense in bringing the media circus to town for training camp for a guy that you don't plan on keeping on the 53 man roster.
Flacco just got injured and Mallet sucks.
He isn't apparently good enough to offset his political beliefs/past actions. The lesson here is don't take a stand unless you are sufficiently good to stay employed.
Saw some data where people that watched less NFL last year were asked why...Number 1 reason was anthem protests, which seems ridiculous.
My number 1, 2, 3, 4 reasons are commercials. Kickoff, commercial--2 run plays and incomplete pass that's challegned, commercial--- challenge fails, punt, commercial.
First, i don't know how scientific that poll was, but second, they said the #1 reason was the anthem stuff at 26%, the #2 reason was basically the disgusting image of the NFL with all of the domestic violence at.....24%. Those are essentially the same, certainly if there was any margin of error.
Basically that headline could just have easily been "Folks stopped watching for a bunch of reasons" but why let clarity get in the way of clickbait or an opportunity to blame political issues instead of problems with the NFL, ESPN.
The lesson here is freedom of speech does not equal freedom of consequences. He had every right to kneel, just as every owner has every right to not sign him. No civil rights movement was easy.
The biggest issue is that he wants starting quarterback $$, but he's still never recovered from his shoulder injury. If he comes back to reality and realizes he's a backup, a team might take a shot.
It's Michael Sam 2.0. Teams weren't not signing because he was gay, it's because he sucked. Couldn't even make it in the CFL. Kaep, on the other hand, has shown enough that teams will keep looking. He just needs let his ego go and ride the bench while he proves to teams that his arm isn't a limp noodle anymore.
The Sam comparison was the media coverage of it. They'll always choose the political issue instead of what is really going on. If a team cuts Colin now, it's because they're racist not performance based.
Kaep definitely was playing well towards the latter part of the season, but there was multiple instances in all of his games where his arm just gave out while trying to make a throw. Shoulder issues take time to heal. Considering he has problems in both shoulders, it's a cause for concern that it's a chronic issue. If you look at his college pics, he went from scrawny to jacked overnight. The rotator cuffs/labrums always take the brunt of the abuse if this is done improperly.
He decided to opt out of his last year with SF, they didn't cut him. His agent has made it blatantly clear that he wants to be a starter and wants big money. You can't do that when your health and motivation is in question. That's on him.
All that said, I can think of about 10 teams where he'd be a better option provided his shoulder rehab has continued going well.
He would've been just another highly productive college kid with very little NFL talent, but the media helped prop him up. Kaep on the other hand would've been better off if the media just ignored him.
The fact that the Cowboys - who don't have an issue with being in the media and have a mobile starting QB similar to Kaep - passed on him in favor of Kellen Moore, convinced me that Kaep will need a lot of luck to get a job.
If the NFL was just any other company, I would readily agree with your point on free speech. But the NFL holds a de facto monopoly on professional football in the USA. The USFL sued tthe NFL for anti-trust violations in the '80s and the jury found that the NFL had indeed monopolized pro football, but awarded only $1 in danages and the court did not take any steps to actually break the monopoly. So if somebody wants to play pro football in the USA, the NFL is basically the only game in town.
Now, generally First Amendment protections do not restrict the actions of private entites, such as the NFL. But there is a line of federal court decisions which hold that in some limited instances, where a private entity is performing functions in place of the government or that government would normally perform, then that private entity may become subject to comply with constitutional restrictions. (The main case I can recall involves a town in Alabama that was basically owned and run by some corporation--wtih the corporation supplying all the public services, governance, etc.)..
I am not sure how a legal claim here could be structured (or certainly how it would be decided if brought). But there seems to be a plausible argument here that the NFL is arguably functioning in a quasi-governmental role by regulating the different teams within a league that holds a court-sanctioned monopoly on domestic pro football, and thus that discriminating against Kaepernick based on political viewpoints he has expressed is indeed a First Amendment violation. (One challenge I see with that claim is that it seems to be the individual NFL franchises that are doing the discriminating, not the league itself; another would be the possibility that, as you've suggested, teams have passed on Kaepernick because of reasons other than his political expression).
Of course, this is all acadmic since I don't imagine Kaepernick plans on brining such a lawsuit. But I don't think the free speech issue here is as cut & dry as it normally would be in a private sector matter.
You moronic gobshite, you couldn't be more wrong if you tried.
People don't protest and then donate a million dollars because they're desperate for attention.
They get drunk, fuck a couple of hookers, and then get picked up for possession when they get pulled over for doing 75 in a 45. It costs them a lot less money, and they know they won't lose their job over it.
Dude is probably the biggest Trump supporter on this blog
Jim Harbaugh is pretty much the same as not voting
This seems a common sentiment but I'm skeptical. His numbers have been poor. IMO if he was clearly better than several current starters he'd be hired now.
Kaepernick just needs to stay in shape and be patient. Chance are some team without much depth at QB will lose their starter for the season at some point (Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota last year) will be desperate for a starting QB with NFL experience and Kaep will get his chance. In the mean time, he gets to skip the dog days of training camp and avoid potential injuries before the regular season.
I hear they are looking for a new QB. Or, he can go teach at most U.S. Universities.
But in reality, here's why no NFL team wants Comrade Colin on their team. Bottom line is he is as toxic as Fukushima.
Whether you agree with it or not, Kaepernick offended the hell out of a huge portion of the NFL fanbase. He pissed off the customers. No business will employ someone who actively pissed off the customers. And even if you think they should just get over it, the problem is that they don't have to. They can be as wrongheaded as you like and still don't have to spend their time or money. So Kaepernick doesn't get employed, because no business owner in the world wants to piss off the customers. Hard to blame them.
Richard Sherman isn't toxic in a way that pisses off the customers. Seattle fans don't mind him.
Whether you agree with it or not, Kaepernick offended the hell out of a huge portion of the NFL fanbase.
Citation please of the "huge portion" of NFL fans he offended
I don't think he needs a citation for that, though it may be a bit superlative. We all lived it. Fox News and social media had never seen anything so offensive in the history of the world, which is pretty funny conisdering the daily news cycle these days. The flag and anthem are taboo for protests for a huge portion of the U.S.
*Huge portion of NFL ownership
Players did it all over the country in a number of sports.
Is Mike McCray toxic because he raised his fist along with Khalid Hill and others?
Plenty of players have voiced their opinions on social media, in press conferences, DURING THE ESPY'S without the same ramifications of Kaep. I realize we're only talking about Colin, but when we act like he did something that nooooo one else did or would dare do - that's just flat out false.
Our own Michigan players "protested" and made comments...no one calls them toxic and they're all still on the team or graduated without any issue. We don't talk about them, but we will bring up Colin as if he's different than all of these other players (black AND white) who did the same thing, said the same things, and feel the same way.
It speaks to the sad state of civics education that people see racial justice as equivalent to socialism.
He needs the right team. The Lions, for instance, wouldn't be interested because putting Kaepernick at QB would change the offense drastically from their pass often - run rarely scheme. I would think there are teams that will take a chance on him.
After all, democracies are all about accepting whatever the government does rather than trying to peacefully change it!
Protesting in the name of improving your country =/= hating your country
=/= hating the troops / armed forces etc.
anyone who makes the argument that it does is basically Jack Nicholson from a Few Good Men.
You're welcome to your own opinions, of course. But don't pretend like Kaepernick's protest was an assault on the military, or that "having served" is the reason you can't support him. Plenty of active-duty soldiers and veterans support Kaepernick: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/military-personnel-colin-kaepernick-veteransforkaepernick-nfl-49ers-anthem
As Kaepernick made clear, he's protesting racial discrimination in the U.S. This has nothing to do with the military, unless you think that the military is equivalent to the flag/anthem, in which case that's an issue by itself.
...how many times those most upset at Kaep have been standing in line for beer or have been in the pisser during the playing of the National Anthem.
"but that's different...... those things are exempt from my opinion of how to respect the National Anthem and my interpretation of what it stands for"
Also, obligatory... "Feel free to protest but do it in a way that doesn't make me think about the reason you are protesting. Better yet, do it in a way that I don't even have to know about."
+1 Dropping Dimes.
Great post.