Colin Kaepernick is either a hero or a jerk to either side
of the political aisle at the moment. Many on the left love him; many on the right hate him.
And in all probability, he is trending as the quarterback the whole nation has eyes on for a moment. Both the right and the left (and the libertarians) are rushing to establish a narrative regarding free speech, police violence against minorities, and so on. I can’t help but think that all of these groups are chasing a red herring and missing the point.
And in all probability, he is trending as the quarterback the whole nation has eyes on for a moment. Both the right and the left (and the libertarians) are rushing to establish a narrative regarding free speech, police violence against minorities, and so on. I can’t help but think that all of these groups are chasing a red herring and missing the point.
The red herring is the discussion that distracts from one
very simple truth:
Colin Kaepernick sucks, and he wants to keep his job.
Pro
Football Focus ranked all 32 teams for the coming year (2016-17 season) in
terms of their quarterback situations. He and the 49ers were ranked dead
last behind the Browns, the Raiders (it’s ok to laugh), the Texans, the Eagles
and so on. This guy went from being in the Super Bowl to being backup QB and
dead last on the list.
In another article, Pete Prisco at CBS ranked him 31st, above the unfortunate Jared Goff. In May, Chris Chase from Fox Sports ranked Kaepernick and the hapless 49ers as the 4th worst in the NFL for the upcoming season. USA Today was also slightly more generous, ranking him 28 out of 32. Do you see a pattern? He's not doing well on the field. (All of these rankings were released long before his sit-out, so they were obviously not influenced by his actions socially but by his flagging performance).
In another article, Pete Prisco at CBS ranked him 31st, above the unfortunate Jared Goff. In May, Chris Chase from Fox Sports ranked Kaepernick and the hapless 49ers as the 4th worst in the NFL for the upcoming season. USA Today was also slightly more generous, ranking him 28 out of 32. Do you see a pattern? He's not doing well on the field. (All of these rankings were released long before his sit-out, so they were obviously not influenced by his actions socially but by his flagging performance).
Yet Kaepernick’s Google stock (as a search term) is suddenly through the roof. His name as a search term hasn’t been worth a damn in years, and suddenly all eyes (and the eyes of the Googles) are on him. He’s a hero, an activist, a talking point, a trending topic. And a poor quarterback.
I think there’s part of me that believes Kaepernick’s actions
are sincere; maybe he is a true SJW (though his relationship with the
notoriously poor-paying Nike raises a few questions).
The other part of me says maybe this is all BS. I do not
mean pointless, meaningless, or reasonless. I mean that it may not be about
social justice after all; it may be about football politics. His actions might
be sincere, yes—just not sincere about social justice as much as he’s sincere
about keeping his paycheck coming.
There have been multiple rumblings that perhaps the 49ers want to cut
Kaepernick. What remains to be seen is
can they? Sure
they can cut an overpaid, crapped out player, but if Kaepernick is cut or traded
will the conversation about why
circle around his activism or his football skill? Are they cutting a quarterback because he's washed up or are they cutting an activist because he's controversial?
Kaepernick might suck, but I doubt he’s stupid. He went from
a bottom-of-the-list QB that no one talked about to being front and center on
the media stage—for now anyway. His sudden posturing
doesn't sound like a true Social Justice Warrior as much as it sounds like a
struggling quarterback on the bubble trying desperately to remain relevant and indispensable to the 49ers franchise. It's their move now, and their decision about Kaepernick is about more than stats now--it's also unfortunately about race.
