ESPN Senior Writer, author, and vocal Colin Kaepernick supporter Howard Bryant appeared with Cari Champion this week for a sit down about the blackballed quarterback on ESPN.
The unapologetically black Twitter-finesser spoke to Kaepernick for over three hours last week off the record. Without discussing certain specifics of the encounter, Bryant says he didnt get the impression that there was anything about Kaepernick “that wasnt committed to playing football.”
Colin Kaepernick Blackball Quotes Vol. 2
Bryant also took the African-American players in the league to task, suggesting that they have been too passive during a blatant blackballing of a member of the NFL Players Association.
“I think that every African-American in the sport should be ashamed of themselves, Bryant told Champion.
He also said that, the white players in the NFL should be ashamed of themselves….If you’re a union… You have to send some type of message that this isn’t acceptable.”
Full Dissident on Twitter
One of the real subtexts to Kap story is how beaten the American worker is in thinking corporations should be able to do anything they want.
Bryant feels that the players are weakening the point of the union by allowing the owners to collude in order to keep a qualified player out of the league, or deny him a job based on a social stance he took that is unrelated to his performance on the field.
Its a problem, according to Bryant, that is opening up possible discrimination against other players for other reasons. Shutting down this owners revolt, Bryant says, starts at the top with the stars of the NFL and not just the African-American ones.
The players that have the security need to lead, if you are a union… This is not a political issue to me, it’s a labor issue. ..you have to stick together on all of these issues… The game is owners vs players,” Bryant continued.
“We have not had any football coaches, GMs or owners say we don’t think Colin Kaepernick is good enough to play in our league. So why are we making excuses about him?… Players need to stand up because if you fight this battle, you can win other battles.
