Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick released a workout video and posted it to Twitter and Instagram. The video begins with counter saying he has been “denied work for 889 days.”
Kap is still game ready.
(via @Kaepernick7)pic.twitter.com/L1cpEJyVRL
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 7, 2019
It’s been that long since Kaep played in an NFL game. By now, we all know why, but it still doesn’t sit right with a lot of people.
What Colin Kaepernick was protesting was run of the mill things that have been going on in American since the beginning of time; social injustice, racial discrimination, and police brutality. However, in the years following his NFL exit, the ills of our nation are worsening.
The country is engaged in a racial divide instigated by our own President. The mass shootings and racially-motivated crimes, violent public interaction, and economic oppression have worsened. While the NFL goes about its big business, the issues that Kaepernick sacrificed his career to bring to light, still remain and are ripping our country to shreds.
At this point, however, all politics aside, Kaepernick just wants an opportunity to work and he deserves a chance to show if he can be one of the best 64 players at his position in the world.
Sure, we’d love to see Kaepernick tossing a football, rather than just lifting weights in the video, but this isn’t about Kaepernick’s skills anymore. He already got the settlement from the NFL, basically admitting that they have colluded to keep him out of the league because of his stance on racial inequality and social injustice and police brutality.
Kaepernick is reminding everyone of how long he’s been denied an opportunity to play the game. Reminding people of the egregious way that his civil rights, freedom of expression and career were oppressed because it didn’t fit into the NFL’s business agenda.
Unwavering. Unrelenting. Unflinching. Unapologetic. Love you Brother! ✊🏾@E_Reid35 pic.twitter.com/bezYzYz2UI
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 30, 2019
It’s not only anti-American that Kaepernick is still being blackballed, but it’s downright disgraceful.
If Kaepernick was actually given an opportunity to be invited into camp and work out and flex his skills and didn’t prove to be up to the task then that’s a different story. However, Kaepernick has been purposely kept off the field and away from the NFL because disconnected, white, rich NFL owners feel his politics and honorable activism is a threat to their overall bottom line.
The video also shows that Kaepernick is still working on his body and staying in shape in case an opportunity does arise. It throws cold water on the arguments that he’s not being signed because he’s been away from the game too long or has lost some of his desire to play football. These are often excuses used by anti-Kaepernick folk.
At the very least, Kaepernick’s video showed people that he’s not off the scene because he doesn’t want to play anymore. He’s still grinding every day.
He’s still exposing the ugliness of America and the historical power imbalance in this country that keep people of color financially inferior. People of color are underrepresented in the NFL at the ownership, front office, and coaching positions while 70 percent of the league is African-American. It reinforces the same stereotypes and systematic injustices that Kaepernick was protesting against.
In a 2018 racial breakdown of the NFL’s coveted leadership positions, 70 percent of the league office was white, 75 percent of head coaches were white and 100 percent of the CEO’s and Presidents were white.
That’s the NFL’s power structure in a nutshell. It’s oppressive. Diversity is almost nonexistent. It actually reflects the racial leadership structure of most major US sports, although some leagues such as the NBA at least attempt efforts to address this disparity.
