Colin Kaepernick initially started sitting during the National Anthem on August 14, 2016. However, Kaepernick went unnoticed. A reporter first noticed Kaepernick sitting in a preseason game on August 26. According to NFL.com, the reason that Kaepernick sat was because he didn’t “want to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Kaepernick protested to combat police brutality and racial inequality. To some people, this demonstration makes a lot of sense. Kaepernick is simply kneeling during an important American event to get his point across. However, it isn’t that simple. Kaepernick was under contract with a National Football League (NFL) team, which in turn means that he represents that team. The main question behind this controversy is whether NFL teams are allowed to not sign Kaepernick because of these demonstrations. The owners of the teams claim that they have not signed him due to his skill level, however it is clear that he has more talent than a lot of modern day NFL quarterbacks.
Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement in October 2017. Him and his attorney claimed that the NFL was blacklisting him from the league due to his protests. Kaepernick believes that he is being singled out specifically, because there have been many other players that protested the anthem after him. Unlike Kaepernick, nearly all of these players still have jobs in the league.
The lawsuit was settled in February of 2019 for a total of less than $10 million. This case goes to show that free speech is a crucial question in the United States. Colin Kaepernick was simply using his 1st Amendment rights by kneeling during the National Anthem, however, NFL teams believe that his protests injure business. In some sorts it did, but overall the 82 percent approval rating for the NFL stayed at that number. However, the approval rating of non-educated (no college education) white men went down by 6 percent, according to the same article. These statistics reflect that the protests hurt some demographics, but overall there is no change.
In my opinion, Kaepernick should be able to protest how he wants. I disagree with the idea of protesting during the game, however I believe that on his own time he should be able to protest however he wants. Yes, he represents his team on and off the field, but in-game is a lot different than off the field. Many more people associate Kaepernick with his team when he is in uniform, as opposed to when he is not. As stated previously, he was still under contract with his team and should therefore represent the team as they want him too. When it comes down to it, everyone has a different opinion on this issue. However, the NFL and its owners are the ones who decide who is on their roster.
I also wrote about the Colin Kaepernick protests. The backlash that Kaepernick received definitely was not right, but there is not a lot to stop people from hating on him for standing up for what he believes in. I never knew that Kaepernick’s grievance got anywhere and certainly did not know that he and the NFL settled for nearly ten million dollars. I actually thought that the NFL would not have to pay anything and would win the case since they are the NFL and they get away with a lot of sketchy things. As a whole, Kaepernick’s protests did little to hurt the league like you said. Over the past few years the NFL has turned in more revenue and is continuing to do so. From the beginning it looked as if Kaepernick’s protests could hurt the league’s pockets, but it seems that since he has been away his movement has lost steam or has just not garnered as much attention with the clamoring to keep politics away from sports. It should be interesting to see what happens this Saturday at Kaepernick’s tryout as there are teams that could use a quarterback like the Miami Dolphins, but I do not know if any team would want to commit to him due to the media attention it would bring like you mentioned.
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