Column: Colin Kaepernick’s exile from the NFL is dumber than ever
Turns out the Rams’ starting quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t break his thumb on Sunday. That’s great news for the team and a reminder of how thin they are at the position.
Their backup is a four-year vet with twice as many interceptions as touchdowns. The rookie they drafted won’t play this season. Stafford isn’t expected to miss a lot of games, but the injury scare most likely means the team will be adding a veteran quarterback for insurance.
Colin Kaepernick is available … in case anyone forgot.
Opinion Columnist
LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports and navigating life in America.
The Rams — the first franchise to integrate the modern NFL and draft the league’s first out gay player — has a history of opening doors for guys who have been excluded. The team should give him a call, because at this point Kaepernick’s exile is beyond stupid.
Since his last game, Patriots owner Robert Kraft has become a pseudo social justice warrior and lobbied to get Meek Mill out of jail. Did the league boot Kaepernick to make a statement in favor of law and order? Or against criminal justice reform? Either way, bring him back.
The wave of migrants could create opportunities for terrorists, and U.S. intelligence on such threats is clearly far from perfect.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the former president who put the heat on the NFL because of Kaepernick, has a mugshot and may wind up in jail. Trump represents more of an insult to the nation than Kaepernick ever did.
So what’s really going on here besides ego and political theater? The country where Kaepernick began his protest against police brutality — by kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 — is not the country we live in now. A lot has changed. It would be good to see the NFL acknowledge these changes and let Kaepernick compete.
The German apparel company’s CEO said recently “I don’t think he meant what he said.” Ye was pretty clear in threatening to “go death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”
If nothing else, he’s a “risk-free contingency plan” for any team in need of quarterbacks. His words, by the way, not mine. Kaepernick reached out to the New York Jets in a letter in September, after the team lost Aaron Rodgers to a season-ending injury. He offered to join the Jets’ practice squad. They declined, of course. Every team has since 2017, some doing so despite a glaring need.
Teams like the Jets, for instance.
We all know Kaepernick’s absence was never because he lacked merit. He has been kept out for … what? Some weaponized version of patriotism? It never made much sense.
It was fun in 1992 with the Michael Jordan ‘Dream Team,’ but now that professional players are so meh about it, I’d rather see college players represent us.
Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem certainly wasn’t bucking any time-honored tradition. Up until 2009, players stayed in the locker room during the anthem. That year the Pentagon started paying the NFL to bring players out for patriotic salutes. So Kaepernick wasn’t the one who blurred the lines rather than “sticking to sports.”
I moved to Los Angeles in 2015, the same year the Rams left St. Louis and returned to L.A. At that point the franchise had gone 12 consecutive seasons without a winning record, so I adopted them. As a lifelong Detroit Lions fan, I figured I was already used to the losing.
The following year made it 13 in a row without the Rams finishing with a winning record, but I had some amazing seats for home losses. One of the most memorable defeats came on Christmas Eve.
With 31 seconds left, Kaepernick, then with San Francisco, ran the ball in for the game-winning two-point conversion. No one knew it at the time, but that 22-21 victory would prove to be Kaepernick’s last victory in the NFL.
The Los Angeles Times headline read “Colin Kaepernick reminds Rams he can play by rallying 49ers to victory.”
That was seven seasons ago. He’s been away a long time. Wonder if he lost a step? Wonder if he still has a rocket for an arm? You know who doesn’t wonder any of that? Dallas Cowboys star receiver CeeDee Lamb. He and other current players were in a Nike ad this summer catching passes from Kaepernick. Kendrick Bourne, the top wide receiver for the Patriots, said the unemployed quarterback “looks great” and has “another good six years left.” Lamb, the Cowboys’ top receiver, said Kaepernick “still got it to him.”
Of all the league’s unsavory decisions, the expulsion of Kaepernick stands out because it’s rooted in political theater — outdated political theater. I still hold out hope that a franchise in need will end the gaslighting and invite him to compete. After all, doing so wouldn’t be charity.
And if the Rams did it, they would be doing what the franchise has done in the past — hiring a worthy player who should never have been excluded.
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