Kaepernick Wins, Owners Horrified of What They Really Are

By: Kris Mead

Love was in the air this Valentine’s Day and, although a day late, none could be “stronger” than the love “reconciled” between the NFL and ex-NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick and Panther’s safety, Eric Reid. "As a result of those discussions, the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances. The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement so there will be no further comment by any party,” announced in a joint statement by the NFL and Colin Kaepernick’s/Reid’s representatives regarding Kaepernick’s/Reid’s collusion claim. Kaepernick and Reid were never signed by a team because of, they allege, their pregame kneeling during the national anthem as a protest against police brutality. Although half of this short message is the explicit statement that the resolution cannot be discussed, it is imperative to understand what this announcement concedes -  Kaepernick won the “breakup”.

There are two reasons why this statement is so stunning:

1. The nature of the NFL
2. What we already know

The timing of the joint statement is significant because although the NFL has still yet come to a conclusive definition of what is a “catch,” they have mastered the art of public relations. This is because the NFL is a beast that denies literally everything that may, in any way, cause it to incur negative publicity. For instance, CTE, which medical experts have determined to be generated from repeated blows to the head, has been deemed by the NFL to hold the same equivalence as to saying God’s name in vein. The NFL has also mastered the art of dealing with domestic violence offenders, albeit in an inconsistent manner. Kareem Hunt, former Kansas City Chief running back and now recently signed by the Cleveland Browns, was released from the squad after a video surfaced of him throwing and kicking a woman in a Cleveland apartment lobby. The NFL and Chiefs were aware of this incident and two prior violent incidents Hunt had been involved in over the previous offseason, and stated that, “We did know about all three of the incidents he’d had in the offseason," Clark Hunt [Chief’s Owner] said. "They’d all been reported to the NFL and the NFL was investigating.” Terrific, the NFL was aware of three issues with Hunt, did not announce these concerns, and it is probable to say that the NFL would have done nothing with the matter if it wasn’t for TMZ releasing the video of Hunt abusing a woman. Then the NFL and the Chiefs quickly announced that they never saw the video, which is the same excuse they used when TMZ released the Ray Rice elevator video in 2014. Even more interesting is that the NFL has yet to conclude its investigation regarding Hunt, even though the NFL was investigating the Hunt incident prior to the release of the video (i.e. nearly a year). In turn, suffice it to say, shouldn’t it take less time to render a verdict, especially with the explicit video being released?

Actually, the NFL has rendered a verdict on much less evidence – Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott was eventually suspended for six games, but the NFL had to fight for the confusingly ruled suspension to stick. Reported by Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, “Judge Paul A. Crotty of the Southern District of New York not only delayed Elliott's six-game suspension Tuesday evening, but did so with a sharply worded ruling that found "significant issues implicating the fundamental fairness of the arbitration proceeding." In another appeal Jenkins reported that Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas, “laid into Goodell and his handpicked rubber-stamp arbitrator, Harold Henderson, for turning "a blind eye" to basic facts and fairness in Elliott's case.” These examples show that the NFL is an authoritarian enterprise that will fight tooth and nail to make sure that it is right, no matter how frivolous and irrational the evidence they may rest upon to support their immoral and arbitrary judgement may be.

Then there is the fact that the NFL has historically been known to be governed, ruled, and controlled by extremely rich, big headed, white billionaires since its inception. This is the same league who had a team president, Tex Schramm of the Dallas Cowboys, announce to the NFL Players Union Chief, Gene Upshaw, in response to the 1987 Players Strike, “You guys are cattle and we’re the ranchers, and ranchers can always get more cattle.” So it really should come as no surprise that in a league owners meeting, back in the fall of 2017 over the issue about whether players should be punished for not standing for the national anthem, that late Houston Texans Owner Bob McNair stated, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.” Further, that directly after McNair’s comment, according to a meeting source, “there was no uproar” over it. It should also be no surprise that racist NFL owner, Dan Snyder, refused to sign Colin Kaepernick in 2018, after his pro-bowl caliber quarterback, Alex Smith, went down with a season ending leg injury. It was reported by, Dave Caldwell of Forbes, that, “Although coach Jay Gruden insisted Kaepernick’s skills did not fit the offense, Snyder could not get over that kneeling thing -- a silent stance protest that was adopted by many other NFL players. Donald Trump, not to mention many of NFL owners, clearly hated the idea.” Poor Jay Gruden had to waltz out to the media, with a straight face and claim that the likes of “Mr. Buttfumble” (Mark Sanchez) and Josh Johnson (who’s he? Exactly.) are better players than Colin Kaepernick (a player who took a team to the Super Bowl) and that’s the reason they signed these quarterbacks over Kaepernick.  It should be taken into account that hell would have to freeze over before the most racist owner in sport, Dan Snyder, signed Kaepernick. If Snyder had to choose between a paraplegic and Kaepernick to play quarterback, Snyder would pick the crippled and then claim that he picks the disabled person because he “obviously” is a better fit for his team. Snyder says this sort of stuff the same way that he doesn’t understand how his team name of “Redskins” could be construed in anyway to be racist. One last example occurred in a more progressive region of the country – Seattle. The Seahawks were looking to workout Colin Kaepernick to back up their pro-bowl quarterback, Russell Wilson. However, no such workout would ever occur as the Seahawks inexplicitly canceled it. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, “After arranging for Colin Kaepernick to work out for the Seattle Seahawks this week, team officials postponed the trip when the quarterback declined to say he would stop kneeling during the national anthem next season, a league source told ESPN on Thursday.” So instead the Seahawks would sign Stephen Morris (who’s he? Exactly.) as their backup quarterback. What each of these examples shows is what Dan Rooney, former owner and son of the Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney, stated in his autobiography about the owners during the 1987 Players Strike, “[the owners] wanted to beat down the players, not make a deal with them.”

So, after reviewing the nature of the NFL and its governance, as well as its history in dealing with players and Kaepernick’s anthem kneeling issue, it is easy to realize how the settlement is a win for Kaepernick and a loss for the NFL. The joint statement between the NFL and Kaepernick/Reid was released late on the Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend. It’s the same tactic Trump used when he announced he would be shutting down the government prior to the Christmas holiday. Those in control, in this case the owners, only do this sort of thing when they know they are about to do something that is embarrassing towards them.

However, what’s even more striking is the fact that if a settlement was embarrassing for the NFL and they still did it, a trial over Kaepernick’s and Reid’s collusion claim would have been even more embarrassing for the NFL. Remember this is the league who refuses to settle because it appears they believe a settlement equates to a loss. Look no further than how they took Tom Brady over “deflategate” almost to the steps of the United States Supreme Court. Think about this, the NFL was about to try and petition a court which handles heavy issues such as abortion and gerrymandering over underinflated footballs! Remember this is the same league which, after several appeals, punished Ezekiel Elliott after being publicly embarrassed by two federal judges for their lack of due process and fairness. So, they are going to just settle with Kaepernick? A player who has, without stepping on the field for over two years, been able to systematically alter the NFL from players still protesting, to performers reneging on their willingness to perform at the Super Bowl halftime as an act of solidarity towards Kaepernick, to Nike running an ad with Kaepernick (which boosted Nike’s sales), and to “czar” Roger Goodell, as a publicity stunt, taking a tour of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta during Super Bowl Weekend. However, the real reason the NFL settled is the fact that the NFL would be embarrassed with what may come out if they had to go to trial. There is a very good chance that the owners did not act together to block Kaepernick from playing, but it is even more likely that most of the owners are what they appear to be in the above paragraph – rich racists. Kaepernick may not have been able to win his collusion claim, but he may have been able to publicly embarrass the owners through their own testimony.  A testimony which would reveal the owners independently acted upon their individual racist thoughts in order to prevent Kaepernick from playing for his manner of protesting police brutality against minorities.