Is NFL treating Colin Kaepernick unfairly?

By Justus Sturtevant, Staff writer Last year, I wrote a sports shot about the role sports can take as a platform for social change. The piece came in response to...

By Justus Sturtevant, Staff writer

Last year, I wrote a sports shot about the role sports can take as a platform for social change. The piece came in response to the uproar over Beyonce’s halftime performance during Super Bowl 50.

This past year, Colin Kaepernick displayed the power of this platform when he repeatedly took a knee during the national anthem.

His protest, along with the social justice work he does, earned Kaepernick a spot on the Time Magazine 100 Most Influential list for 2017, which was released this week.

Meanwhile, Kaepernick, who was a highly regarded starting quarterback in the NFL a few seasons ago, has been unable to sign with any NFL team.

Some people claim that teams are unfairly avoiding a decent backup quarterback due to his off-the-field actions.

Others point to his recent statistics and film and argue that Kaepernick is not a quality NFL quarterback.

There is certainly some truth to both arguments. Kaepernick is not the same quarterback he once was. However, many NFL executives dislike Kaepernick for his protests. One NFL executive called Kaepernick’s protests “an embarrassment to football,” according to Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman.

It seems unlikely that executives could hold such strong contempt for a player without it affecting their roster decisions, which causes me to wonder if Kaepernick being a free agent this late into the offseason is purely a result of his play.

That thought is strengthened by the quarterback situation for some NFL teams. The Chicago Bears, New York Jets and Cleveland Browns are all without clear starting quarterbacks, and this year’s draft class is not strong.

It seems like Kaepernick is well suited to aid any one of these teams as a veteran quarterback who could serve as the backup to a developing rookie.

Any arguments about his off-field distractions need to be taken with a grain of salt, as the NFL has a long history of employing players with off- field issues. After all, this is the league who suspended Ray Rice for just two games after his on-camera assault.

Regardless of how the Kaepernick situation plays out, it seems to me that the NFL has a bit of a double-standard when it comes to the treatment of the off-field behavior of its players.

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