The Raiders will become the first team in five years to give Colin Kaepernick a workout. Out of the NFL since the 2016 season, the former 49ers quarterback is auditioning for the Raiders on Wednesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports.
Kaepernick, now 34, returned to the spotlight earlier this year by continuing his workouts and making comments about still seeking an NFL return. Kaepernick’s trainer said in March he had spoken with multiple teams, and Mark Davis said back in 2020 he had given his blessing for the Raiders to sign the polarizing quarterback at any point since his long free agency stay began in 2017.
GM Dave Ziegler will join Josh McDaniels and Co. for the workout, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. New Raiders offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi was on the 49ers’ staff from 2013-16. Kaepernick also returns to Nevada, where he starred in college prior to being a 2011 second-round pick.
The Raiders began their OTA sessions Monday and have a day off today; the team is scheduled to finish off its first week of OTAs Thursday. It is not out of the question their quarterback room could have a high-profile addition by that point, though it is far from certain the Raiders will move forward here.
Kaepernick merely receiving this opportunity is surprising, considering how long it has been since his last workout for a team (with the Seahawks, in May 2017) and how long it has been since the NFL-sanctioned/Kaepernick-adjusted Georgia workout (November 2019) commenced. The six-year 49er did, however, throw at Michigan’s spring game — one that featured NFL staffers present — after receiving an invite from former coach Jim Harbaugh.
The Raiders have an unquestioned starter in Derek Carr, whose recent career rebound enticed the new Las Vegas regime to extend him earlier this offseason, and added ex-Patriot Jarrett Stidham and ex-49er Nick Mullens behind him. Kaepernick’s profile and accomplishments obviously dwarf both of Carr’s current backups, but the former Super Bowl starter has not thrown a regular-season pass since New Year’s Day 2017.
Even if the quarterback’s NFL exile was only about ability, he would still face long odds at re-establishing himself. Teams have steered clear of the talented passer/runner since his decision to kneel during the playing of the national anthem, protesting racial injustice and police brutality, caused a firestorm for the NFL. The fallout from that led to Kaepernick and former 49ers teammate Eric Reid suing the league for collusion and receiving a settlement in 2019.
Reid received another opportunity, with the Panthers signing him in 2018 and giving him an extension months later. Always the more divisive figure as a well-known quarterback and the leader of the racially inspired movement, Kaepernick never was granted such a chance. Given this and the time that has elapsed, Kaepernick returning to an NFL sideline would be one of the most astonishing comebacks in sports history.
“You have ‘End Racism’ in the back of your end zone. You have ‘Black Lives Matter’ on your helmet. Everything I’ve said should be in alignment with what you’re saying publicly,” Kaepernick said during an appearance on the I Am Athlete podcast. “It’s a $16 billion business. When I first took a knee, my jersey went to No. 1. When I did the deal with Nike, their value increased by six billion dollars. Six billion. With a B.
“… So if you’re talking about the business side, it shows [it’s] beneficial. If you’re talking about the playing side, come in, let me compete. You can evaluate me from there. The NFL’s supposed to be a meritocracy. Come in, let me compete. If I’m not good enough, get rid of me. But let me come in and show you.”
At his best under Harbaugh, Kaepernick guided the 49ers to back-to-back NFC championship games and nearly led a comeback win in Super Bowl XLVII. Post-Harbaugh, the 49ers steadily deteriorated, leading to multiple coaching changes. Kaepernick finished 29th in QBR in 2015 and 23rd in 2016 and opted out of his 49ers contract before the Kyle Shanahan regime was prepared to release him. Teams in need of a backup or an emergency starter passed on Kaepernick in the years that followed, and he became mentioned less and less in connection with various in-season QB openings.
The Nevada alum’s profile has obviously soared in the years since, and seeing if the Raiders — set to enter next season with the most optimism surrounding their contender status in many years — sign Kaepernick instantly becomes one of this offseason’s top storylines.
Great p.r stunt
Kap deserves to be on an NFL team. People should get over it
As a TE/WR. Not a QB.
6’4″ 225 he has decent size to be a WR. If he still has wheels.
He has no one to blame but himself why he didn’t get opportunities with Denver or Baltimore and has no one to blame but himself if he is unwilling to be a different position.
Blame himself? Why could he stood up and did what was right? Seems like it’s something the people who govern this country never do!
Refusing to take a pay cut to play in Denver and letting the person you’re dating call the owner and franchise legend racist and an uncle tom respectively is his own fault. No one else. I don’t recall Kaepernick walking back those comments his gf made towards the ravens either, something you should probably do (apologize) if you’re trying to get a job.
The Ravens were going to sign them until his girlfriend called Ray Lewis an Uncle Tom.
lol kap is garbage
Get over what, exactly?
So he can kneel again? Man had his shot and choked on it!
What’s wrong with kneeling?
EVERYTHING
Why?
It’s disrespecting the flag his swimming trunks are made of, or something like that.
Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Indianapolis, Indiana
April 4, 1968
Listen to this speech.
I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight.
Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.
In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black–considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible–you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization–black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.
Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: “In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.
So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that’s true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love–a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.
We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times; we’ve had difficult times in the past; we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it is not the end of disorder.
But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land.
Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.
“Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.”
Unless you were his wife or another woman…
Obviously you never served this country or lost a brother in arms to a foreign threat.
That doesn’t answer what’s wrong with kneeling.
He hasn’t played in YEARS. People thinking that he will magically be an NFL-caliber player again should…GET OVER IT.
This is really what the issue is. But we’re talking about a league that gave Tim Tebow a shot last year, so whatever. Let the dude try out and see. He likely won’t make it because he’s older and not good enough anymore. But it doesn’t hurt to let him try out.
He was average at his peak … he’s done. Will never play an official down again and shouldn’t. Part of being American and from this country is we all have a voice. I respect his right to choose how he wants to voice his opinion. Just as much as my right to voice my displeasure for him disrespecting the flag and what it stands for. For those of us that actually did serve to protect this country it was disgraceful. I hope he rots in $#%&
I would say the same thing regardless of race. If Joe Montana did it , I would type the same message.
Imagine going up against Mahomes, Allen, Rodgers, Brady, Stafford ect with Kap as your QB. Zero chance to win
Come on, he’s not gonna start. He’s probably a QB 3 at nest at this stage. Imagine going up against those guys with Matt Barkley…
Really? And how do you know that? He hasn’t played a down for 5 years. The Raiders are letting him try out to see what he has. If he has anything.
Good thing I’m not a Raiders fan though. I’d immediately stop being one if they signed this guy
Deserves how? He opted out of his last deal and caused enough PR issues to justify other teams taking chances on draft picks and cheaper veterans instead.
On that note he was terrible the last time he played. Then he also doesn’t have a ceiling that is very high to begin with both now and prior to his opt out. You’d be better odd and get similar production for much cheaper in the draft.
“Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.”
Kaep doesn’t deserve anything. He had his shot in the NFL, blew it. Then got numerous chances to be on teams after his stunts, blew that. Then had an unprecedented league tryout, blew that. Then went on to make more with Nike than he ever did in the NFL to be their wokesperson. He then went on to hold fundraisers to bail out violent criminals out of jail of certain persuasions. He then went on to produce, film and star in a documentary where he claims the NFL is a slave market.
Now I guess he’s okay with that because his contract with Nike is about to expire and that sweet, sweet, grift money is drying up. He is just trying to be relevant again. He doesn’t want to play football. If he did, he would have already been on a team.
Eh — seems fine. He can’t be much worse than Jarrett Stidham, Chase Garbers or Nick Mullens.
Nick Mullens can actually complete passes as a QB at an acceptable level. Kaepernick, not so much.
Congratulations on finding one stat to cherry-pick. Now look at anything else, including what kind of passes they were attempting. Of course Mullens has been more accurate with a career average depth of target two full yards shorter.
“please ignore kaepernicks inability throw a football accurately!”
No. I don’t think I will. Why? Cause your one job is to get other people the football. You can’t run the football and hand it off to guys down the field.
Also, wouldnt the kind of passes they were attempting reflect his ability as a QB, you know how teams design the plays to fit your QBs strengths…..which clearly wasn’t completing passes in Kaepernick’s case.
He was asked to do more difficult things than Mullens was. Heck, the average completion percentage for the league as a whole has ticked upward since a decade ago. And that’d setting aside all the things Kaepernick could do that Mullens couldn’t.
How do you quantify he was asked to do more difficult things exactly?
Was Mullens not asked to play QB and throw the ball to receivers and tight ends?
Was Mullens not asked to run an offense, know the playbook, throw timing routes, and read defenses?
What was asked of Kaepernick that was not asked of Mullens? Read option plays? That doesn’t make QB more difficult of a position running that style of offense.
I literally cited a stat saying Mullens has attempted dramatically shorter passes over the course of his career. And most of that was under Shanahan, who excels at scheming receivers open at short range.
Yards per catch includes yards the receiver gets after said catch.
So that’s a misleading stat in its own right.
Wonder why Harbaugh never asked Kaepernick to make shorter throws. Probably because he couldn’t.
Yards to go 4-6 he had a 56% comp rate
Yards to go 7-9 he had a 56% comp rate
Dude could not throw short routes to save his life.
Kaepernick wasn’t asked to do harder things. Kaepernick couldn’t throw the ball worth a damn and put himself in hard positions that he either had to run himself out of or make difficult/longer throws with little success.
I cited ADOT. You’re now lying about what I even said.
Citing some obscure stat nobody uses didnt help your argument. At all.
Your stat backs up what I literally just said. Kaepernick wasn’t asked to do harder more difficult things. Kaepernick had to make harder/longer throws because he sucked at throwing short passes putting them in 2nd 3rd 4th and long where he either needed to run for yards or make longer throws.
When you dig your offense in a hole you don’t get credit for more difficult opportunities you created for yourself. Kaepernick making his job harder for himself cause he was unable to complete short passes isnt an accomplishment.
Yes, like destroy your team, call your owner of your team and the league a slave driver/slave market, and suck worse at football than Blaine Gabbert.
I don’t think that he was just talking about completion percentage…
So all other former NFL players that weren’t good enough to stay in the league are also getting tryouts?
Costs nothing to kick the tires even if the vehicle is an Edsel.
Integrity, time lost you could have used to evaluate somebody that isn’t a joke…
are any of them high profile University of Nevada alumni?
Dude hasn’t played in 6 years. I don’t care about his politics but I do wonder if he can still play at clipboard holding level?
How is this thread still unlocked?
cuz no one cares anymore
Because adults know how to avoid reading the comments if they feel they may get offended by them. Either don’t read the comments or use the mute button to block a poster who offends you. This isn’t rocket science.
lol that was true last night , then boom!
If Blaine F’ing Gabbert has a job. Why shouldn’t Kaep
Blaine literally beat him out for the starting QB job in his final season…
terrible reference
Because Blaine will accept that he’s a back up QB for back up QB money. He also won’t go on a political crusade and destroy your team.
First sentence is fair. Then came the second sentence
Which is also fair and the truth.
Either make your case against it or just stifle. You people here know it is the truth, you just want to act like ostriches.
Ok, I’ll bite. What team did he destroy and how?
The one that decided to let him go in the first place. Then when that didn’t get him what he wanted, he tried to destroy the Ravens when they reached out to him, and then the entire NFL. Have you not been paying attention?
Nah, he didn’t destroy the Niners. That was their terrible management and you know it.
I agree his girlfriend made a dumb comment about the Baltimore owner, but I don’t see how that equates to him “trying to destroy the Ravens.”
How did he destroy the NFL?
You can disagree with him politically/socially and I have no issue with that. That doesn’t mean you get to make things up, however
kaepernick knows all about white privilege
…. he grew up with it
He was part of the problem. This is a QB that took a team to the superbowl, and then once the league figured him out, he lost his job, and then he made it all about him. That is what I know. Because that’s what happened.
It wasn’t just the owner, it was also against Ray Lewis. The guy who was pushing Steve Biscotti to sign Kaep. They called him an Uncle Tom. So yeah, calling the owner of the team a flat out racist and slave driver and one of the main faces of the franchise an Uncle Tom is to boost the image of the team….are you kidding me? Of course he was trying to blow them up and defame them.
He TRIED to destroy the NFL. Can you not read? Do you not have eyes. He called the entire league racist. Made a documentary calling it a slave market.
Unlike Colin, I am not making any of this up. These were/are his actions. Try to pay some attention and stop being an ostrich.
Because Blaine has talent
Nathan $&@%ing Peterman is on an NFL roster right now. If you’re mad at Kaepernick even getting a tryout, meritocracy ain’t your concern.
Peterman is six years younger, and has thrown a football in a professional game within the last five years. Peterman also is apparently very coachable, a concern that plagued Kaepernick prior to his kneeling. Peterman is also not an option quarterback in his thirties.
We let his cause get in the way of our evaluation of his play. Kaepernick has done plenty non-kneeling related actions to effect his contract status. He wanted much more money than teams were willing to give him-both in San Francisco pre-kneeling and in Denver post-kneeling, which were confirmed, and allegedly in his free agency period following. Kaepernick played extremely poorly, which is why was benched-twice-for Blaine Gabbert. Kaepernick threw for twenty or more touchdowns once in his career. Once. There is no starting quarterback who has been extended who hasn’t, at the minimum, posted at least twenty passing touchdowns in multiple seasons in recent times.
In his final action, Kaepernick was sacked five times and threw for four yards. He didn’t play the entire game, granted, and the weather was bad, but it was pitiful. Any person reading articles prior to his benching from that time can see that his play was a concern for his coaches, and the 9ers were unlikely to extend him. Kaepernick became a vegan prior to his being benched, and lost noticeable muscle mass and seemed to lose speed as well, and for a quarterback who relies so much on his running, it was not helpful. Cam Newton underwent the same situation, with the same results and/or reaction from NFL observers.
He had off-field distractions as well-the Miami thing wasn’t a big deal in my eyes, but Kaepernick’s handling of the issue and his general attitude in press conferences probably didn’t help in the eyes of future employers. Maybe it’s unfair, but it certainly did not seem that he ever took any of that seriously, and unlike Marshawn Lynch, he didn’t have the advantage of humorous responses to make it look better. Again, that part could be considered unfair, but I doubt that it was a positive-especially at a time here the league began fining players and teams for press conferences.
We cannot say that Kaepernick’s play and actions did not contribute to his current situation. And no, I’m not surprised that Peterman has a job. The NFL has shown in the past that bad QBs can get jobs. Kaepernick was one of them, now it’s Peterman. I actually don’t think it matters if Kaepernick is signed or not-any team is free to sign who they want, and I’m not a Raiders fan, so it doesn’t affect me personally. But we cannot sit here and pretend that, just simply because we support his cause, that Kaepernick was not in danger of losing his job before all of this. He was not any good, and at the time, he was 28 and looking for a contract that his play did not justify. And after that, he kneeled.
Ak, I appreciate this post. I’ve been arguing this for years. You put it much more eloquent than I ever could.
If 4-1 interception to TD ratio is the coachable guy, give me the problem.
He’s a one trick pony and can’t win games with that style.
you out here tryin to get this man killed LOL
I’m not mad. I am laughing my behind off. Utterly ridiculous. Kaepernick doesn’t deserve anything.
If Kaep is signed, Carr better stay sharp. Kaepernick can play when his head is right.
He can play when his head is right?? I guess you’re referring to years ago when he was still in the NFL? Was his head REALLY right then?
As silly as the Jags working out Tebow last year.
And almost as unlikely to lead to anything. The only difference I guess is that Tebow was at least temporarily taking up a roster spot someone else deserved, because I don’t recall him having to try out first (although I freely admit I could be wrong).
Now, if Kaep tries out, and then the Raiders somehow feel that he deserves a roster spot after that… well, IMO that would say more about the Raider QB room and and scouting than it would about Kaepernick.
I’ve personally got no issues with Kapernick the man. But he made his choices freely, and I don’t think he got “blackballed” (I hate that word) either. He knew what he was getting himself into, or he should have. He wasn’t nearly good enough to warrant the amount of hand-wringing TD hat had occurred over his absence from the league.
I do admit that I think we’ve all gotten a bit ahead of ourselves in our reactions, for the reason you stated. I think his being signed is a stretch, if for no other reason than that the Raiders are already rostering three quarterbacks-one of whom is a returning starter, one of who has recent starting experience and experience with the coordinator, and the last of whom has familiarity with the head coach. Kaepernick also plays a much different style than the others, and I don’t know who the Raiders would cut for him. I think the best case for Kaepernick would be a preseason ride with Las Vegas, or using this as an audition for other teams.
The difference being that Tebow was willing to come in as a TE, and not demand a contract of $20 million. He also was one of the 90 people in camp so…not like he was taking up a valuable spot.
lol i hope to god he gets to face NFL defenses again and for the raiders lol that will be must see tv
GO GET EM KAEP!!
I have no issue with Kap being in the NFL, but can we truthfully say “well x QB is in the league so so should Kap”? Kap hasn’t played since 2016 and was pretty bad that season. Maybe I’d take 2017 Kap over some of the slop being thrown out there, but this isn’t 2017.
As a Chiefs fan, I love this. PLEASE SIGN HIM VEGAS!! Should anything happen to Carr, seeing this has-been attempting to play again would be hilarious.
The media attention this scenario would receive would be absolutely insufferable
Maybe he will wear a Stalin shirt this time
This is straight out of the Charlie O’Finley routine…I wouldn’t put it past Raiders to PR this thing just for pre-season then cut him.
If he can accept the role of change of pace gimmick backup QB this might not be a bad idea. That’s a big “if” considering his history of being a distraction. I don’t care about his politics or his kneeling but rule #1 to being a professional athlete is being a good teammate that puts the team before themselves. I think Stidham makes the team as at least the 3rd string QB due to his familiarity with the system but Kaep could certainly be a fit if he plays well enough and carries himself professionally.
I’m going to try and avoid any of the racial/kneeling stuff as best I can…
I get that he supposedly opted out of his deal because he knew the team was going to cut ties with him..but he still did that on his own, I guess expecting his agent’s phone to be ringing non-stop. The problem, as I skimmed over the article and comments, is he wasn’t very good the 2 years prior to opting out.
The downturn in production (in addition to the unwanted media frenzy) might have played a part in other teams not wanting to sign him (I’m also guessing he wasn’t going to accept a low salary or incentive laden deal).
Now he’s 34, been out of the league for 6 years, and what is a team going to get from him, in terms of on-the-field performance? Or is this just about the possibility of both he and the franchise cashing in should merch sales go way up?
Is he going to allow the Raider coaches to be present at the tryout? Or is this just another “hey look at me” tryout like the last one?
The dude compared the NFL draft to slavery – so what changed? Did he spend his NFL windfall?
really?
Rex Grossman took the Bears to the Super Bowl too guys. Maybe we should let him have a tryout?
Let’s be honest… the Bears D/ST could have taken Nate Peterman to the Super Bowl . So, no… Red is out. Lol
Lou Whitaker was awesome! I always remember him and Trammel being the double play combo in Detroit back in the day against Cal Ripken Jr. and whomever was playing 2B that season for the O’s back in the day.
Full disclosure: I don’t believe Kaepernick is a saint or even condone his protests. But he is a free man in a free country. He has every right to voic/demonstrate his views in his own ways as we have the right to chastise him for his actions.
With that said, let him get signed by a team. The odds are against him at this point. At his age and lack of recent ply, IF he wins a back up job, he can hold a clipboard with the beat of them. And he very well may become the most accomplished scout team QB out there.
My favorite part of the Kaepernick thing was the year or two of all of the people who hate him explaining over and over “that private businesses have the right to hire and fire whoever they want and don’t have to employ people who reflect poorly on them”…
…and then watching them forget all of that and lose their minds every time a racist gets fired for being racist.
“WhAt hApPeNeD tO fReE sPeEcH?!?!?”
Only there is a difference between being fired for actually being a racist, and for somebody getting their feelings hurt for misconstruing something as racist that actually isn’t.
Although Brees didn’t get fired by the Saints, he had to go on a never-ending apology tour…which still wasn’t enough…for simply saying that he respects the flag and he thinks the act of kneeling for it is a sign of disrespect. He was labeled as a racist for that, even though there’s nothing racist about saying that. He had people in his family that served in the military, so the flag meant something to him.
Exactly. Now let’s be fair, there are some military that say that’s what they fought for … someone’s right to protest and kneel if they want. I have heard that argument and there’s some logic to it.
But the vast majority of military do find it disrespectful.
My initial reaction to the kneeling was, why do something that’s going to offend a lot of veterans and military people?
But he had to know he was being controversial. He must have felt that his point had to be made at all costs. I just can’t take his point seriously, when he’s in bed with Nike and is gonna wear pig socks to insult all police. That’s not social activism behavior to me. He drew a line between cops and black people. That’s not helping racial tension.
Meanwhile for a good example, I’ve seen Snoop, Ice Cube and The Game working with police at public events to promote unity in our communities.
It was a PR stunt. He lost his job and he knew he wasn’t going to get it back, so he had to find a way to draw attention to himself. He didn’t get active until he was inactive.
And look at what he’s done since he’s been out of football. He raises funds to bail ANTIFA and BLM rioters out of jail if they get arrested, got a huge sponsorship with Nike to be their Wokesperson, called the entire NFL racist, made a documentary on Netflix about how the NFL is a slave market.
He knew what he was doing and stupid people ate it up. He made more money after football than he did playing football. Do people really not see this?
You kinda skipped over the main point
All I know for sure about Kap is that he wore socks with pigs in cop uniforms. That’s just disrespectful. He’s also a hypocrite.
He speaks out about social justice, while taking money from Nike who outsources their labor to countries with no child labor laws. Check your Nike gear. Vietnam and Indonesia mostly. That commercial he made with Nike was the biggest hypocrisy I’ve ever seen. Those factories are closer to slavery than anything that’s happened in this country for 100 years.
I won’t even get into the kneeling, but don’t disrespect police like that and don’t take money from a company that profits off of unethical labor … and then preach like you care about the suffering of others. Please.
I can’t take this dude seriously. If he makes it back into an NFL game, I’m going to be hoping bad things happen to him. That’s as nice as I can put it.
We all have our political views but this guy brought politics into sports. I don’t appreciate that. I don’t appreciate that especially from someone who’s disrespectful, and takes money from Nike who exploits labor from poor countries. It’s a disgrace how serious the media and a lot of people take this guy.
What a snowflake. Can’t handle politics in sports, but I doubt you had any problems with “Let’s go, Brandon” at NASCAR events, did you? You’re the hypocrite. Why even watch sports at all when teams donate to liberal causes and politicians? You’re outraged about disrespect of cops but not one word about police brutality or their murdering of citizens. You just want to silence any minority who dares to protest. You’re a disgrace to America and our Constitutional rights.
You are the disgrace here
Steering clear of politics here:
The raiders have had way too much drama over the last three (not to mention the last 20) years. As an old coworker used to tell me “sometimes you gotta just keep your head I. The foxhole and
Keep your head in the foxhole and stay off the grid. It’s obvious nap is not going to be the starting QB so why bring in drama when you have enough. If he could help the team that’s one thing but the raiders don’t need another side show when they’re going to be dealing with Grudens lawsuit and HR3’s case. Sorry- unless he’s going to be a difference maker, I’m not touching this one.
Can you clowns please stop. There’s literally only one criteria to be an NFL backup QB:
Have you ever been a 1st, 2nd or 3rd string QB in the NFL.
That’s it. Age does not matter, you can be 42. Skill does not matter, you can be Nathan Peterman. Intelligence does not matter, you can be Vince Young (lowest wonderlic). You can kill dogs or allegedly do something to a woman in a bathroom stall. You can sexually assault 22 women.
None of that matters, you’ll still get a shot at holding a clipboard – as long as you accept backup money. That’s the only reason Kaep is not in the league – greed. Not politics, greed. If he took backup money he’d probably have a starting gig under his belt somewhere between when he knelt and today.
Clipboard QBs make 8-9M a year it’s the one position where you could be horrendous and still make 8x more than someone that will actually affect the outcome of a game every single week. Like backup QB makes 8x more than a long snapper.
“We’ll you need a good backup”. Great in theory, but most of the time you’d get the same end result with the scout team QB. Heck you could put the emergency QB who is also the 3rd TE in there and still lose.
So Kaep meets the criteria, he could have 1 eye, a club foot, and be missing 6 of 10 fingers and still qualify to be a back up QB in the NFL… If he accepts backup money.
He does physically meet the criteria of a 2nd or 3rd string for sure. Is a 2nd or 3rd string qb worth the distraction and non game related attention? No. Part of the criteria of a backup that you didn’t mention, is that you can’t put yourself ahead of the team and be a distraction. Even a superstar can only get away with so much of that.
Whether you believe he was right or wrong in doing so, he was undeniably a distraction and put his personal beliefs at center stage over the team.
Let’s be honest, if he was a top QB he’d have been playing for years now.
I don’t watch NASCAR and don’t think the Brandon joke is that funny actually. But you’re kind of proving a point to me. You just generalized someone that you don’t even know. Basically, because I guess you disagreed with what I wrote. But instead of actually civilly debating me and making a rational argument, you start off with name calling and never really debate any of the points I made. Just shows how divided we are that we can’t discuss this without being disrespectful. This horrible mentality of anyone who disagrees with me, must be a bad person.
As far as police brutality, of course I’m against it. I’m against any form of bullying. I think that’s something we all have in common, I hope. There’s no excuses or room for bad cops and they should be prosecuted as regular citizens when they brutalize people. No doubt about that. All races are victims of that. I’ve heard different stats from right and left wing and black conservatives …all different. So I can’t speak on exactly how disproportionate the brutality is or isn’t. But I also know better than to generalize all police, over the bad ones. I know that police do a lot of heroic things everyday for all races.
Your statement is the exact mentality that I think is the problem. We see someone doing something wrong and then assume that all people like them are the same. That’s kinda how racism is, isn’t it? So you’re kind of using the same mentality as a racist. Generalizing and disrespecting people you don’t know.
I want to silence minorities who protest lol? I am a minority. Did you consider that, when you wrote that post? If you actually read and thought about my post, I hope I wrote it well enough for you to get what my problem with Kap is. Doesn’t seem like you responded to my actual argument with any thought.
Do you agree it’s hypocritical to talk about social justice, when you take millions from Nike who exploit workers with no rights? Do you not agree it’s basically slave labor in those Nike factories? Do you see the problem there? See the hypocrisy?
Furthermore on police and the pig socks … Do you think Kap would call the police if someone broke into his home or was threatening his family? Would the police go head to head with an armed gunman during a mass shooting if one happened at his local school or Walmart? Would the police pull him out of a car wreck if he got into one? (Perhaps the fire dept would first but you get the point) Would they investigate his murder? Did cops protect him while he was on the field from crazy fans running onto it and doing god knows what?
My point is that a black person murders a white person it’s not that all black people are bad and now I can wear socks disrespecting black people and that’s a proper way to make my point. Same as if one bad cop kills a black person I can’t wear socks that say f all cops now. You wanna be a social activist, that’s not how you bring everyone together. That’s how you divide people. You wanna be a social activist, you can’t take money from Nike and their sweatshops. And you shouldn’t bring politics into sports if you’re a hypocrite and disrespectful
Police brutality in the United States is out of control. Cops shoot people in the back who are running away from property crimes. Copy beat up people for fun. Cops rape hookers and confiscate their earnings. Cops confiscate money from travellers without a warrant and have fun trying to get it back.
Police in the US have earned the derision of nasty socks. Nasty socks is not shooting people in the back. First the police should clean up their act.
That said: Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter. There should be no get-out-of-jail or responsibility card based on your race or your political connections.
The league already paid him his going away money, he should stay away at this point.
What fan is clamoring for this?
Who the hell cares about this guy?
Plus, you are going to get his loudmouth girlfriend, who fills Colin’s head with honey and lies and trash
Cripes, if I wanted a comeback from someone I would wave a magic wand for
John Jefferson
Ickey Woods
Bo Jackson
A rematch of the the Bengals Chargers and Cowboys 49ers of January 1982
Seriously, what can Colin do at this point?
SMH
Says more about the Vegas coaching staff – as having quarterbacks with completely different skill sets on your roster doesn’t make sense – unless you plan to waste a roster spot on a gimmick QB like New Orleans.
the bottom line is , Tim Tebows not in the league for being an annoying distraction
and Tebow was ushered out a little unfairly
Can’t believe this clown insulted our police by exercising his Constitutional rights.
He should have beaten the cops with an American flag, tased the cops until they have heart attacks and tried to “kill him with his own gun” on his way to hang someone…like any normal tourist.
Kap is a racists. His gf/wife is even more of a racist.. He is also a communist… He took a deal from the NFL for millions. He lost his starting position in the NFL to an average at best QB. He brings drama to an organization and will create distractions by the media. He was raised by a family with money…. Anyway- he has his constitutional right to spew his BS… So whatever…I think he is an awesome fit for the Raiders. Don’t like them anyway…
Police Brutality- OK.. There are officers like in any profession that are bad and break the law. They should be prosecuted like anyone else.. How about all the officers which is the majority that get in fights with career criminals, assaulted, verbally abused, stabbed, shot, and sometimes killed? No remorse for them at all.. And they get paid crap…. But Kap wants to kneel for police brutality because of a few officers or bad apples that ruin the bunch.. Pig socks.. I had an acquaintance a few years ago that overdosed in the back of the cop car and died. He was white… The officer was fired and had charges brought against him. No rioting. No kneeling, Nobody profited off his loss. Kap is a racist.. He was raised by bi racial parents and had money growing up and still sees things as black/ white. He is a racist.
And btw, he sucks as a QB.
Cops aren’t paid poorly and to say the majority have those things happen to them is simply not true.
Cops are paid pretty poorly my dude. We can argue about the rest, but that one’s not up for debate, trust me.
Nope. Not compared to people at large in this country.
Out of curiousity, how much do you think cops make?
You can literally look up national and local rates at different levels and look at what most people in this country make instead of trying to make it a he said, he said thing. As of 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics had the average police officer salary nationwide more than $15k higher than the nationwide average overall. They aren’t paid poorly as a group. They also don’t have one of the most dangerous jobs in America, as a group—another common, but factually incorrect talking point.
Trust me, man. That stuff is just misleading in a major way. NYPD officers make triple digits, sure, but only after a few years walking a beat. Most cops outside of Chicago, New York, L.A., and similar cities will never sniff triple digits. That’s the vast, vast, vast majority of officers nationwide. This is a job that requires a college degree in most places now, as well. In my state, the highest starting salary for an officer that I know of is about $47,000. The lowest is about $25,000.
At minimum, the training consists of a 12 week Academy trip, plus department field training, which is minimum 6 weeks (some departments are longer, most are usually 8 weeks but with the shortages many are trying to get their people on the road as soon as they can). You also have to consider the hours worked. Most departments work a typical 12 hour shift schedule, with five days on one week and two days on the next. That adds up to 84 hours a week, and very commonly runs over. So, yeah, making less than $40,000 (as most do here) for an 18 week minimum training job that requires a college degree is not enough for most people. That does not include the extra training courses needed at minimum, such as RADAR/LiDAR certification, MEDTAC, or AED, or advanced training like investigative related courses or tactical response. On top of all of that, the possibility of personal legal liability increasing individual expenses results in nearly every officer joining some sort of legal representation group, which is not covered by their employer.
And then of course there are equipment costs, because most departments that aren’t well off municipalities don’t have all of their equipment (and no, that doesn’t really concern weapons-things like tourniquets, medkits, car unlocking devices such as the Big Easy, or even uniform items) provided. That of course is true for many jobs-not all, but a lot, especially in poorly compensated fields-but there are A LOT of things for this particular one. And then, there’s the risk that you don’t seem to think exists, but obviously I won’t make any progress there.
I’m not saying this to make you feel sorry for cops, so don’t construe it that way. I just want you to know that cops are NOT well paid, even if you don’t believe that risk exists. It’s a problem with all first responders, and with all public servants in general-teachers, firefighters, EMS, public works, etc. The lack of compensation, long training periods, plus the added legal liability, turn away most people who would otherwise be great at these types of jobs. If they paid more, more good people would do them, and have less of a problem with all of the risks involved and training/time demanded.
Totally great post. Thank you.
Besides the compensation, a police officer is one of the highest stress level jobs. Pretty sure their avg life expectancy is affected by it too. I learned that in sociology back when I was in college. Some of the stuff they have to see, stays with them and haunts them to their grave. When your job has a possibility that you may need to use a gun or give an infant CPR on the side of a highway … I’d say yeah it’s pretty stressful. The hours and how they bring some of it home also hurts their families. Pretty sure the divorce rate amongst cops is higher than avg.
But yeah, they chose to do it. They get amazing benefits, we can’t forget that either.
I’m familiar with the realities. I’m also aware that the drastic over-funding of police departments in this country serves to funnel money to contractors as much as it does to actually paying the people who do the work. And I know averages don’t account for how top heavy pay can be (same with everything from football to academia). But they’re still not underpaid as a group, at least compared to other blue collar jobs. They also have better benefits, pensions, and job security than most fields. eyeofthebeholder is spitting hateful nonsense.
I don’t know who’s telling you this stuff, but it’s definitely not a police officer.
Overfunding? I suppose there can be differing priorities, and I suppose someone who doesn’t like what police do would consider it a waste, but I don’t think most people even know where that money goes. What most departments need is more officers, regardless of jurisdiction, but they cannot afford to pay their current officers more or hire new ones. However, most cities are experiencing increasing crime (not mental patients, but violent crime-burglaries, robberies, shootings) and do not have the manpower to respond.
Officers are leaving en masse. Good or bad, that’s just the case. As far as benefits go…working 30+ years to get less than half of the retirement you pay in, minus taxes, and a state healthcare plan is pretty bad. Unless you work a job with no benefits at all, it’s not much of an upgrade. It used to be, years ago, if you talk to the old school guys. But it hasn’t been that way for a while. A long while. Truth is, all jobs have had worse retirement benefits as time has gone on. Cops’ benefits have taken a huge hit. That “90” formula is just a way for the state to save money, but most do it.
The point is this-we can argue all day about the need for change of some kind, or our political positions, but to say that police officers are adequately compensated for the stress and/or dangers of the job is certainly a stretch. Articles can say what they wish, but I really would doubt that any officer interviewed would say the same.
And, again, it’s not limited to cops. Any public servant gets screwed here. That study you cited, about compensation versus “average” Americans? I wonder if that includes chiefs and lieutenants and captains and what not. Everyday officers make quite a bit less, and with fewer opportunities to advance than other jobs. Again, I’m not saying that this is to make you feel badly, but it’s just concerning the pay.
Overfunding based on what governments are spending on what. Police spending is chaotically high in this country.
So is crime. Nearly every city that has decreased department funding is now desperately attempting to lure in more officers. This isn’t just a political talking point, it is the state of affairs. American crime rates aren’t comparable to any other country because American crime is not comparable to any other country. This is not meant to be an excuse, again, it is just the way it is currently.
Now you’re just parroting bogus cop talking points. Take care.
They’re bogus because cops say them? Have you ever considered that they may be true? You began this conversation by asserting that cops are well compensated, and then said that police spending is drastically out of control. I have yet to see you offer evidence of either, or against anything I said. I’m glad you pay attention to current affairs, but reading something in an article versus living a reality are very different things, especially an article likely written with a point to prove in mind.
Our discussion has been respectful up to this point, and it is disappointing to see you offer up such a dismissive statement to conclude it. I respect your wishes and will not continue it further.
You completely dismissed the actual stat I cited about cops being much better paid than average workers. There is not significant widespread defunding of the police, this country’s police spending per GDP is up there with pretty much only dictatorships and countries without militaries, and the idea of crime being chaotically high in this country is out of step with historical stats. I don’t mean to be rude to you personally, but the same week as that incompetence, negligence, cowardice, and flat out lying from the police in Uvalde, I can’t stand to see thin blue line talking points repeated uncritically.
Actually he is bi-racial but wasn’t raised by bi-racial parents, he was raised by white parents.
grandparents.
No, raised by an adoptive couple that are white. His birth mother was white, unknown donor was black, and placed up for adoption, claimed at 5 weeks old by a white couple that had lost 2 children to heart defects.
I hope the Raiders sign him as a backup.
If the Raiders are winning at the end of the game, he come in and take a knee. . .
Josh Johnson got a call to play and he was out of the NFL for 4-5 years. Just saying
That’s what happens when you’re a team player.
He was playing in another league at the time.
Sign Him!