Black-Balled

In 2012 and 2013, he was the next big thing, the NFL's hottest and most exciting young QB.  For those two seasons, he led his 49ers to the Super Bowl and the NFC championship game.  With the Niners last year, in a silent protest, he took a knee during the anthem.

Today, at age 29, Colin Kaepernick is an unsigned free agent, effectively black-balled by the league's owners.  The owners, of course, deny this.

The link is to a story in the NY Times sports section, detailing Kaepernick's shooting-star journey of self-discovery, from naive biracial adopted kid, to football hero, to principled outcast reviled by small minds.  Like Muhammad Ali, Tommy Smith and John Carlos before him, he is paying a heavy price for being an athlete with a social conscience.

Some excerpts follow the link.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/sports/colin-kaepernick-nfl-protests.html?mcubz=1

The NFL and its 32 franchise owners, none of them African-American, may be the most conservative fraternity of leaders in major American sports.  They bathe their games in overtly patriotic ceremonies and discourage players, mostly hidden behind masks and uniforms of armor, from individual acts of showmanship.  At least seven donated $1 million or more to Trump's inaugural committee, far more than any other sport's owners.

The NFL's 32 teams each carry at least two quarterbacks, some three.

"It's really tough to make an argument that he's not one of the best 64." -- NBC analyst Chris Collinsworth.

"To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.  There are bodies in the street, and people are getting paid leave and getting away with murder."  -- Colin Kaepernick.

"I am not looking for approval.  If they take football away, take my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right." -- Kaepernick.

"The larger conversation is what he is protesting about.  The fact that so many don't want to have that specific conversation speaks to the fact that they know what is happening in America is beyond tragic." -- Wade Davis, former NFL player and activist.

Kaepernick has donated $100,000 to charities every month since last October with little notice.  The beneficiaries are usually small, relatively unknown, and surprised.

"He is the Muhammad Ali of this generation." -- longtime civil rights/sports activist Harry Edwards.
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These days, there's a lot to take a knee for.  Rumble, young man, rumble!

#KapSupport