One of the centerpieces of Colin Kaepernick‘s collusion grievance against the NFL will be President Donald Trump’s tweets and comments regarding his and other players’ racial inequality-themed protests and those words’ possible influence on owners, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports. La Canfora adds Kaepernick’s case will involve the numerous times the president has attempted to exert influence on owners regarding this matter, one that the quarterback is charging has him unemployed while numerous passers of lesser pedigrees are on teams’ rosters. Arguing certain inferior players are rostered while Kaepernick isn’t may not be enough to satisfy the CBA’s “burden of proof” element, so it appears Kaepernick’s side is taking a different approach.
Trump’s tweeted about having conversations with owners about protesting players and has discussed publicly his sway over them regarding this recent movement, and La Canfora writes Kaepernick’s lawyers could argue this has created a climate in which “numerous owners have colluded” to keep the quarterback from having a chance to sign as a free agent. Trump recently tweeted about speaking with Jerry Jones in late September regarding this issue, and the Cowboys owner made comments about the team benching protesting players in early October. Jones spoke about Trump discussing the game-day manual regarding anthem protocols as well, per La Canfora.
Kaepernick became a free agent in March by opting out of his 49ers contract, but San Francisco GM John Lynch said the team would have released him had he not done so.
Here’s the latest surrounding the Kaepernick grievance and the protest discussions that came out of the league meetings this week.
- Other owners wish Jones would refrain from making bold pronouncements like his anthem directive in an effort to preserve the goodwill fostered between them and the players this week, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com reports, adding the owners would like the NFL to stay off Trump’s political agenda. Jones could be an outlier among owners who have expressed optimism about talks with the players on social activism, Robinson writes. The Cowboys owner did not make further remarks about this issue after the owners’ meetings. Considering Jones speaks with the media often, this issue will come up again soon.
- Michael Bennett said an early step toward further discussions with owners about social issues would be making sure Kaepernick signs with a team. “I think before we even negotiate anything about whether we sit, whether we stand [during the national anthem], it should be a negotiation about opening up the doors for Colin Kaepernick and giving him an opportunity again,” the Seahawks defensive end said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN.com. “Because I feel like through everything, that’s been lost.”
- However, other players may not see a Kaepernick job as an automatic end to the protests. One anonymous member of the NFL players coalition, assembled this year to help with criminal justice reform in these players’ respective communities, told Ed Werder (Twitter link) a Kaepernick signing won’t just stop the protests. The same player told Werder (Twitter link) the quarterback “continues to isolate himself from [the coalition]” with this grievance.
- The Jets player reps at this week’s owners’ meetings, Kelvin Beachum and Demario Davis, declined to answer questions about them. Davis did compose a statement, however. “I will say that the talks were very productive,” the linebacker said, via Daniel Popper of the New York Daily News. “It’s encouraging to me as an athlete to see so many athletes and owners so concerned about our country and pushing in the right direction. We have a tremendous platform in the NFL, and to whom much is given, much is required. And that’s why we simply can’t just play football.”
- Jaguars owner Shad Khan said Trump’s failure to buy an NFL team has led to this crusade against the league. “This is a very personal issue with him,” Khan said (via Jarrett Bell of USA Today). “… He’s been elected president, where maybe a great goal he had in life to own an NFL team is not very likely. So to make it tougher, or to hurt the league, it’s very calculated.” Trump attempted to buy the Bills in 2014, but Terry Pegula wound up acquiring the franchise.
The National Felon League is dying because of Colin Cancer
Well said
Why not? Haven’t had an article on this scumbag in about 18 hours so let’s start a new one.
It’s like an bad rash that won’t ever go away.
Sounds a lot like the current occupant of the White House.
You must be pretty ButtHurt,,,, Get over it,,no safe space here troll
Maybe you people should think about it more before commenting
First Bennett’s protest waa over Charlottesville. Next his protest was over equality. Now his protest is over Kaepernick? This guy is a joke along with his declining play.
did you see what happened to Bennett?
Maybe he can use that reason for losing his job to Blaine Gabbert.
He took over the starting job from Blaine Gabbert last year dumb one
Colin can not throw the out, and has little talent except to run. Now he if out of shape and still has a big month. Let,s see, Colin was not hired over the winter, did not go to football workout, he was not hired, did not start the Season on a Team, because he was not hired, but now Trump makes a statement after the season started and all Colin,s problems were caused by Trump. Yes I know he started WW2 also.
The NFL has let this situation get out of hand and it is all their fault. The players are employee’s and what they say and do as employees does NOT fall under freedom of speech, as that freedom is on their own time. The players can not even were socks of their choice! Police respond to thousands of crime calls every day and the players want to point out a few, and I mean a few bad decisions by police and ignore the tens of thousands of other crimes. There is not, nor can be perfection on everything. Players why not let the justice system work on the bad decisions, and try to fix why Blacks are murdered every day by other Blacks. I can tell you in one word, education, but that can not be right in your mind, because it does not fit your BLAME game.
Exactly!!!!
Honestly, it’s even giving them too much credit to call a lot of these shootings “bad decisions” in the first place when the indisputable physical evidence shows otherwise. Not that there aren’t bad shootings, but if they’d stop wringing their hands over the good shoots and focus on those, that would be a start. Some of the worst ones where the cops have actually been successfully prosecuted (which damn near NEVER happened ten years ago) have gotten next to no media attention.
Amen!!
I hear Wal-Mart has a opening hey even
McDonald’s. Kneeling is optional.
Kaperdink is not playing because he doesn’t want to!! The Seahawks offered him a job and turned it down. He should have accepted the offer. And waited for an opening like every other backup in the NFL. Sitting for the national anthem is disrespectful and for any NFL player and should result in a suspension. The work place is no place to showcase political views or protest unless you are striking for more pay. I say, Bench’em all that sit. Sitting is not speaking.
W O W ! Thanks! What took ya, been waitin for my daily Kap update! Y E A ! Feels soooo good….now gotta re-read it…. n then e-mail it to myself for the scrapbook, again thank u, day is kinda a let down after this though…..until tomorrow….Keep Kneeling !!!!!