Finally, the NFL via Commissioner Roger Goodell told Colin Kaepernick to shove it. Speaking to reporters at the NFL winter meetings in Irving, Texas, Goodell was asked about the November Kaepernick workout for NFL teams. In November, Kaepernick played Prima donna, deciding at the last minute to relocate the workout away from the facility he and league had agreed upon. Commissioner Tells Kaepernick

Goodell answered that Kaepernick blew his chance.

“This was about creating an opportunity. We created that opportunity. It was a unique opportunity, a credible opportunity and he chose not to take it. I understand that.”

“We’ve moved on.”

Kaepernick and his allies will claim he is sort of a martyr, but his lack of a professional NFL job is his own fault.

It started when the NFL QB took a knee and started a protest that cost the league a great deal of money

His misguided temper tantrum spread throughout the league. A bevy of bratty overpaid players found themselves doing all manner of things during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner, stretching, chit-chatting with other players, and sitting on the bench, everything except honoring America. Patriots were absolutely outraged, leading to many fans turning off the TV instead of their usual diet of watching the NFL on TV.  Ratings plummeted.  Television advertisers jumped ship by the dozen. Advertisers had purchased multi-million-dollar packages to sponsor NFL games. Significant advertising investments generally include rating guarantees. The protest-fueled drop in ratings forced the TV networks to make up the difference from what was promised with free commercials in other NFL or similar programming, Instead if giving freebies, the networks could have sold those slots. Therefore they lost income.

The protest continued after March 2017 when Colin Kaepernick opted out of his San Fransico 49ers contract because the didn’t want to be a back-up quarterback and get a back-up’s salary. He became a free agent.  No one wanted to sign the QB. Part of the lack of interest was Kaepernick priced himself out of the market. He thought he was better and worth more than his mediocracy deserved. The other reason was the protest, teams didn’t want to lose fans who were already angered that the NFL allowed the disrespect of the country to continue. They were afraid that signing Kaepernick would lead to the loss of local sponsorship revenue, the way it did with the national money.

For the next two and a half years, the unemployed QB played the victim and got some celebrities to accuse the NFL of being racist. This period was peppered with rumors that a team was about to sign Kaepernick, but they never panned out.

Just before the 2017/18 season, the Daily Caller reported that the unemployed quarterback has turned down job offers from NFL teams to maintain his misguided position on top of the victims of racism list. Absurdly he was recognized as GQ’s Citizen of the Year, an honor that many would have agreed with if they put the world “Lousy” in front of Citizen. Kaepernick was also hired to do ads for Nike.

Maroon 3 was hired to do the half-time show for the Feb. 2019 Super Bowl. As the game drew near, Kaepernick supporters protested and demanded Maroon 5 back out of its commitment and support their “hero.” Those supporters claimed Kaepernick was being blackballed. They claimed his lack of a job wasn’t because he took a knee during the national anthem. Instead, they believed no one in the NFL wanted Kaepernick because he was protesting racial inequality, and the league was racist.

Sadly their protests didn’t work, and Maroon 5 didn’t cancel their gig. The half-time show sucked big time.

In November 2019, Jay-Z helped Kaepernick secure a workout for in a deal with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. 24 of the NFL’s 32 teams were set to show up to the private workout in Atlanta.

At the last minute, Kapernick and his camp decided to change the Atlanta location because, among other reasons, he wanted media there. Because of the last-minute change, only 8 teams showed up.

Colin (or Kunta Kinte as his shirt read) got called out for turning the event in a sideshow.

Here’s the NFL’s statement (click to zoom)…

After his workout Kaepernick said

“Our biggest thing with everything today was making sure we had transparency with what went on. We weren’t getting that elsewhere so we came out here.”

There’s the old saying, “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Kaepernick didn’t look it in the mouth, he punched it in the face. Kind of like Mongo in Blazing Saddles (picture below). Not one of the clubs who showed up signed him. But the receiver Kaepernick picked to catch his passes in the workout was signed.

Finally, Commissioner Goodell told Kaepernick he blew his big chance, and hopefully, Colin Kaepernick will now get the anonymity he so richly earned.

Commissioner Tells Kaepernick

 

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