He’s been blackballed by League owners and attacked by “45” all while continuing his mission to uplift communities of color and fight against social injustice.
Athletes vs Trump
But he hasn’t been alone as athletes and fans across the world have taken a knee in support of his cause. Today he took a new step against the obvious blackballing against him by going the legal route, filing a grievance against NFL owners according to his attorney, Mark Geragos, who issued the following statement:
We can confirm that this morning we filed a grievance under the CBA on behalf of Colin Kaepernick. This was done only after pursuing every possible avenue with all the NFL teams and their executives.
If the NFL (as well as all professional sports leagues) is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful political protest — which the owners themselves made great theater imitating weeks ago — should not be punished and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the Executive Branch of our government. Such a precedent threatens all patriotic Americans and harkens back to our darkest days as a nation. Protecting all athletes from such collusive conduct is what compelled Mr. Kaepernick to file his grievance.
Colin Kaepernick’s goal has always been, and remains, to simply be treated fairly by the league he performed at the highest level for and return to the football playing field.
According to CBSSports.com, the NFL PA also issued a statement tonight.
Our union has a duty to assist Mr. Kaepernick as we do all players and we will support him.
The NFLPA has been in regular contact with Mr. Kaepernick’s representatives for the past year about his options and our union agreed to follow the direction of his advisors throughout that time.
We first learned through media reports today that Mr. Kaepernick filed a grievance claiming collusion through our arbitration system and is represented by his own counsel. We learned that the NFL was informed of his intention to file this grievance before today.
We are scheduling a call with his advisors for early this week.
We have seen the players signed ahead of Kaepernick and heard the weak excuses which followed, the latest being the Titans Mike Mularkey, who felt that Brandon Weeden was a better choice when Marcus Mariotta went down because Kap wasn’t familiar with the team’s offense.
WATCH- Colin Kaepernick Blackballing Quotes Vol. 2
Colin Kaepernick Blackball Quotes Vol. 2
Just to compare the two, in Weeden’s four year career he has amassed 6,642 yards passing with 31 TDs and 30 ints while Kap’s career stat line consists of 12,271 yards passing, 72 TDs and 30 ints while rushing for 2,300 yards and 13 TDs. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Kap has been jerked, as teams such as the Seahawks, Dolphins, Ravens and Cardinals have all signed QBs which have no business being on the field, especially ahead of Kap. Despite the hate against the former 49ers’ QB, many have openly had his back, as fans and journalists have voiced their support of Kap, and even players from the Seahawks and Bengals have expressed their desire to have him signed to their team. Even pop warner teams and high school kids are taking up his protests against social injustice, fighting the false narratives spread by Trump and those who follow him.
With this grievance, Kap is taking matters into his own hands, letting both his supporters and detractors know that he wants to play and is ready to play; all he needs is for the blackballing foolishness, and lies about the purpose of taking a knee, to stop so he can lace up his cleats and help a team out, just like he has been helping so many others while the League blatantly shuns him.
