OT - Ravens sign David Olson over Colin Kaepernick
The Ravens have signed quarterback David Olson to participate in training camp with Joe Flacco nursing a back injury. Olson joins Ryan Mallett and Dustin Vaugh at Ravens camp.
David Olson is a former Champions Indoor Football league quarterback. He played for the Wichita Force and led the team to a league title, winning MVP of Champions Bowl II. He was also the QB at Stanford under the tutelage Jim Harbaugh
Colin also was a famously coached by Jim Harbaugh.
Speculation yesterday was that John Harbaugh would pick up Colin – if he agreed to the contract and conditions for the QB competition. Sounds like the contract offer -- and level of participation -- was more in line with Olson’s needs.
Boring day; the comments should be interesting.
*** Edit - I saw the headline this morning and didn't see the John Harbaugh thread. Was looking for Kap in the OP titles.
They signed him twice? This conversation was had today in the OT: John Harbaugh openly reaching out to Kaepernick? thread.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/ot-john-harbaugh-openly-reaching-out-kaeper…
It's unreasonable to expect someone to read through every comment before posting something related, but different. I read the other post but I rarely read more than a couple comments so I appreciate the new thread for this, or at least as much as I appreciated the first post about Kap.
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I guess John Harbaugh didn't openly reach out to Kaepernick
Flacco stinks. Kaep would have given him a real competition.
Are Baltimore fans anti-Kaep? That would really surprise me. He would have made the team better IMO.
Kap has every right to kneel during the National Anthem, wear anti-police socks and any other sort of non-violent protest as he sees fit. I understand why he felt the need to take the position he did and applaud his courage in doing so.
That being said however NFL owners ALSO have a right to not sign him for it. He is not constitutionally guarenteed an NFL roster spot and the same freedoms he enjoyed in making his protest are the same freedoms NFL owners have to not sign him because of it.
Free speech is free from government intervention not the consequences from your actions.
I'm smellin' what you're stepping in.
Or, more accurately, they have a right not to sign him because he's not a very good NFL quarterback?
He's better than the bums being signed across the league.
His asking price might be a factor, but lets not kid ourselves about the real reason for why he's not being signed.
I mean, I definitely agree that the PR stuff is a big deal, but I do think there's a pretty big separation between the noise amongst fans who "just don't like what that guy did" and NFL owners who frankly don't care about most things their players do if they can deliver on the field. There was an article yesterday that only 3% of NFL fans turned off the TV because of Kaepernick's protest. That's negligible--not enough people actually care enough for them to make a change on that alone.
If Kaepernick were a better quarterback, or perhaps put better, a safer bet, absolutely, he'd probably be signed somewhere. But he's not. And he hasn't yet.
That's not all that negligible. If 24 million people** watch the average prime time game, that means 720,000 people turned it off because of Kaepernick. With no guarantee there wouldn't be more as time goes on.
The networks pay about $3 billion a year to the NFL. With 3% fewer viewers, should we say they might be willing to pay 3% less next time the deal is negotiated? That would be about $90 million, or $3 million per team. That's not negligible. With the NFL already bleeding viewers, it's a terrible idea to give some viewers even more reason to leave and not come back.
**I didn't actually calculate, but it's a rough guess given these numbers.
You do realize he played pretty well last year, right?! Is he in the upper tier level? Hell no. But he probably played in the, and this is just spitballing, top 18-24 range. Again, not great, but it was commendable....oh let's not forget what tire fire of a team he was doing this for, either.
According to Football Outsiders, he was 30th by DYAR.
However, the NFL (although technically these are team, not league decisions) is also open to consequences, it is my wish that blacklisting him will drastically reduce their viewership as a result, though realistically I know it won't.
I wish I cared in the least about or watched NFL games, as I would stop watching....although if I had ever watched I would have stopped already given the Vick stuff, all the various DV forgiveness, Ray Lewis, their initial reaction to Kaepernick's protest and the general devolution of the whole thing into a soulless, corporate, sterile, money-driven exploit.
This sure buries any likelihood I would ever start watching/have interest under another few feet of fresh dirt.
Kaepernick actually doesn't have the right to kneel... The NFL allowed him to. They could easily make a rule against it and fine/suspend him. He has freedom of speech just like everyone else, but that doesn't mean he's allowed to use someone else's platform to preach his message.
He doesn't? Prove it.
The kind of grave-dancing done on this guy's career over his choice to make a statement of conscience is pretty amazing. How dare he actually think, speak, and act up instead of just throwing the ball and running around on the field for your entertainment?
I actually agree with the statement he's trying to make. I'm just saying he doesn't have the RIGHT. The NFL allowed him to use their platform to make a statement, they don't have to let him do that.
It's no different that me not being allowed to hang up political signs at my desk at work. My employer doesn't allow it.
Yeah lemme tell ya the studies that confirm police bias against minorities is just a massive ploy to overthrow white people.
Get a clue guy.
Discriminate in favor of minorities? LOL. That's rich. Coming from an old white guy--even better. This is why this board must stay on sports related topics. I sleep better NOT knowing the views of my fellow Michigan fans.
A song?. When there is a practice that is universally set in place to show pride and respect for one's country you should expect some type of push back for doing the one thing most people would consider blatantly disrespectful. The National anthem is flat out the wrong forum for any type of protest whether just or not. To me it shows disrespect for anyone who has sacrificed for one's country and Mr. Kaepernick is finding out that others feel the same as myself.
Everything is fair and even playing field...ya just have to work for it!
You scoff, but I'd like to see more people actually try it before reflexively claiming it's not true.
It ain't perfect, but there is no other country in the world that rewards hard work and initiative, no matter who you are, better than the United States.
I hate this whole notion that the US is the only "free" nation in the world. That is not true in 2017 and the fact that people cling to it reeks of denial.
One would hope that at the very least his protest would cause ignorant people to delve into the issues and actually try to learn something about it rather than sticking with their ignorance and spewing it out without bothering to try to understand where the frustration, anger and protests are coming from.
You have to be trying really fucking hard to not have a fucking clue what you're talking about on these issues in twenty fucking seventeen!
Of course "we" bollocksed up MLK's dream, even more than you bollocksed up the phrase bollocksed up, by fucking killing him, by the continual violent suppression of the civil rights movement, by the spying on, infiltrating, causing internal destruction with false rumors etc. in all of the people's freedom and justice movements, framing, railroading, imprisoning,smearing, slandering, murdering, you name it!
"They": fucked it up with fake news, censorship, mis-characterization, whitewashing and Disnifying King & his words, his deeds, his analysis and his critiques, along with those of the rest of the people's leaders and movements. You're warped view of in what ways his dream has been fucked up proves what they've done.
Black people are fucked in the ass in almost uncountable ways every single day, en mass, by virtually every facet of government, business, and society at large, since 1492.
You must have been in a coma since 1965! Even if your insane contention about government discrimination was technically true, which it isn't, there's a vast difference between what is legal or constitutional and what actually happens in reality!
On top of all that and the mountains of everything else I have to leave out without writing a thousand long books, are you not even aware of the focal point of his protests and BLM? The constant police killing of black people, unarmed black people, unwarranted, lied about, and virtually never convicted no matter the evidence or circumstances? That isn't discrimination? That isn't injustice? That isn't an outrage?
The fact that even in light of that, which should bring light to the infinitely larger problem of the MYRIAD facets of abusive and tyrannical policing of black people, it's ONLY that which is talked about, is a far bigger crime than the shootings or stranglings themselves! Multiply it again because the policing is taken out of context of why that kind of policing exists and what all the causes of the overall conditions in black America are!
The fact that people like you still have no clue about any of this is the biggest crime, it's the crime that has perpetuated it all! It's ONLY by brainwashing people like you, keeping you from knowing or understanding anything and everything you need to know in order for you to behave like a human is what fake news is all about, the total opposite of the reasons Trump has for calling them fake news!
Keeping you blind about all of this isn't just for the kick's of being racist, cruel and inhuman to black people, it's the tool used to oppress YOU TOO! At least the majority of people that "think" like you whether you yourself are being victimized or not, are being victimized. The people that get you to think this way are the ones that are your real enemies.
Look, just because you agree with what he did doesn't make it not political.
Standing for the national anthem is political, but you can't see it. Forcing someone to stand or punishing them for not doing it would certainly be political!
Even people like you would see standing for and saluting a Nazi flag or song, or forcing them to, as political, wouldn't you? Supporting a political or government entity is political.
would be a legal minefield of epic proportion... NFL lawyers are not dumb enough to even allow them to consider trying to do that.
Preach, brother!
Although, I would like to explore that "constitutionally guaranteed an NFL roster spot thing" a little more.
I think i deserve one, but a little forced government coercion in my favor couldn't hurt.
We kinda already have a thread on this...but let's do it all over again, what the heck, it's summer!
I missed it
it's your friend
I think I'd rather have two Kap threads than one "what horrible thing did a relative of yours do" thread or maybe a "lets mindlessly speculate on our starting QB - I'll make the first unsubstantiated disparging remark" thread.
the dog anal gland conversation!
now MGrowOld is going to have to do another Hello post from yesteryear....
Hello: Willie Heston.
From MGrowOld's Junior year, I think.
If Kaepernick was still good enough to be a starter in this league, I think there would be some teams that would overlook his stance on certain issues facing our country. At the end of the day, the desire to win is almost always going to be what wins out in this league (no pun intended).
But the fact of the matter is that Kaepernick is not good enough to be a starter in this league anymore. And when all you're looking for is a backup, you're not going to pick the guy who's going to bring a media firestorm into your organization. I don't dislike Kaepernick at all for doing what he thinks is right. He is guaranteed this right by our Constitution, and he's exercising that right just like I exercise my right to stand and hold my hand over my heart during the anthem. But it's also the right of the owners to decide that he's not worth the hassle of being brought into their organization.
Sadly this may be the end of his NFL career, which three years ago would've been a completely ridiculous thought. He was arguably a top-5 QB in his prime under Harbaugh.
I don't think he really thought things through that well. I understand that he can express himself however he sees fit, but the question I would ask is what really was he attempting to accomplish. To shine some light on a really vague notion of racial inequality that he never really explained or expanded on? And what was his end goal? That everybody would take a knee for the national anthem? That the national anthem would no longer be played? That wasn't going to happen. This is not to say that racial inequality is not a relevant and/or important issue, but what exactly did he think he was doing for the issue?
And now it is a year later, whatever fad that he thought he was starting has completely vanished and he is unemployed and has stated that he will now stand for the national anthem. ????? Where did he think he was going with this?
Did he follow up his stance by engaging in any community organziation to engage in a dialogue with community leaders, law enforcement, local government? Did he start any charities or funds to help the family members who have been hurt or killed by police brutality? Did he meet with any victims, go to any schools, do any outreach?
Or did he just eventually stand up for the anthem after it became clear that his five minutes were up and that he was out and figit spinners were in?
I guess I just don't understand what his goal really was and if he thought for a minute about what his next move was going to be.
He accomplished everything he set out to do. Look at the amount of donations that went to community outreach programs/organizations after he started protesting.
It's not a fad if he actually put his money where his mouth is, which he is still continuing to do until this day.
Everything you said was wrong and slanted in favor of Kaep. Clearly a fanboy.
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