Colin Kaepernick Takes a Stand, Files Grievance Against NFL Owners

I’m not sure any middle of the road NFL talent has ever attracted more controversy than Colin Kaepernick, who, horror of horrors, knelt down during the national anthem last season to protest the systemic killing of unarmed black men by the police all across the country. This was shocking to many fans, angered that Kaepernick would ignore the longstanding tradition of NFL players standing during the national anthem, a tradition that dates back as far as 2009 when the Department Of Defense started paying NFL teams to have players on the field for the anthem. Seriously, until 2009 players didn’t take the field until after the national anthem.

Which brings us to Colin Kaepernick. After opting out of his contract with the 49ers, Kaepernick failed to find a job with any team in the league, despite him being seemingly more qualified than a number of back-up quarterbacks. Because of this, Kaepernick has filed a grievance under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, according to a statement given by his lawyer, seen in the tweet below.

Statement from Mark Geragos, counsel for Colin Kaepernick. pic.twitter.com/Z7rWpuwb2g

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 15, 2017

Kaepernick is alleging, essentially, that the 32 team owners colluded in an effort to keep him out of the league, not based on his on-field performance but because some people, including President Trump, didn’t like his protest. This sort of blackballing of players is expressly forbidden under the contract between the owners and the players’ union.

The question no one can seem to agree on is, setting politics aside, is Kaepernick a good quarterback. Kaepernick has a reputation as not being a great pocket passer, which is pretty much the baseline of what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. Can you you take your drop, look up, make your reads and throw the ball downfield to an open receiver? Kaepernick’s critics argue that he can’t, that he’s too quick to scramble out of the pocket and look to run if his first read isn’t there. And there’s some truth to that, Kaepernick does get happy feet a little earlier than you’d like from a starting quarterback in the NFL.

But Kaepernick is probably a better quarterback than at least some of the starters and almost all of the backups in the league. And he’s proved that given a solid offensive line and good targets down the field he can lead a team to the Super Bowl. I can already hear you saying “But the 49ers did so poorly the last few seasons! He went 1-10 as a starter last season!” The 49ers are one of the worst teams in the NFL right now. They’ve had three head coaches in as many years and are currently 0-6, so Kaepernick clearly wasn’t holding them back.

As a Steelers fan, I’d like to see Pittsburgh take a look at Kaepernick. Kaep isn’t as good as Ben Roethlisberger by any means, but Big Ben has been talking retirement since last season and I think Kaepernick is a far sight better than Landry Jones. Pittsburgh has an incredible offensive line and the best wide receiver and running back in the league, all the weapons Kaepernick needs to shine. If he was learning the system now, and Roethlisberger does decide to retire, I’d have a lot more confidence in the team next year under Kaepernick than almost anyone else who could feasibly be under center.

Also, the Steelers signed Michael Vick two years ago, so don’t tell me that Kaepernick would be a distraction or that they’d have to change their entire offense for him. If Vick could come to Pittsburgh and perform admirably as a back-up to Roethlisberger then Kaepernick, who is younger and never went to prison, could do so as well. Maybe he’s not the future of the franchise, or any franchise, but he is certainly at least a guy who can keep a team together while they find the person who is, and that’s a lot more than you can say about a good number of players who are suiting up while Kaepernick isn’t.