A little bit less than a year ago, when the last NFL season was still young, the Official Sweetie of MR&HBI pointed out to me that a legit NFL quarterback was unemployed because of his political stand.
I demurred. Colin Kaepernick was the flash-point of activism and he was unemployed, but I gave my sweetie the cringie-face and said, “the problem is that he’s actually not very good.”
After that conversation, several NFL teams hired backup quarterbacks and even a starter who were worse than Kaep in every measure.
Kaepernick is a dick, make no mistake. He hit on a teammate’s girl, and he required ridiculous privileges when he could get them. He is not friendly to his fans. Having him in the locker room will be a challenge. But in a league that hires actual fuckin’ murderers, and glorifies a coach who banged his assistant’s wife, being an asshole is hardly a disqualifier.
And seriously, some of the chumps hired over a man who was one bad coach-decision away from being a Super Bowl champion are ridiculous. Kaep has a beef.
He is suing the league. I’m no lawyer, but I think he has a case.
Enter Nike. A major sponsor of the NFL. On opening night of the new season, Nike introduced an ad campaign that cut Kaep as a hero, among many other hometown heroes you have never met, just trying to do what is right. Word on the street is that Nike did not inform the NFL of the content of the ad until maximum buzz could be achieved.
Kaep, for his part, has put a chunk of his personal fortune into addressing the issues he knelt to protest. So asshole rating is reduced several points. Kaep believes in the cause. That simple fact is really, really important. Obviously this is not a cynical career move for him. He’s making a stand for justice.
Honestly, I don’t like Colin Kaepernick as a person, but I respect what he is doing. To my sweetie, I was wrong back then. Clearly there has been collusion, and it’s time to make the league pay.
