In the courtyard in front of NFL HQ yesterday and "spilling out into the sidewalk and stretching more than a city block away, hundreds gathered for a rally in support" of free agent QB Colin Kaepernick, according to Lorenzo Reyes of USA TODAY. Organizers of the United We Stand rally requested a meeting with league execs by Sept. 7, the day of the regular-season opener, to "discuss potential policy changes and methods to support and protect players who are socially active." If the meeting is "not granted, organizers vowed to boycott the league and singled out Verizon as a league sponsor, urging those in attendance to potentially change their service provider to competitors." NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy said, "We told the group that organized today’s rally (The United We Stand Rally Coalition) that we would not be able to pull together a meeting today. We said we would look to set up a meeting in the next few weeks with groups that have reached out to us. The group declined the opportunity." During yesterday's rally "chants of 'BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT' and 'STAND WITH KAEP, STAND WITH KAEP' rang out at various times." Meanwhile, across the street from NFL HQ, a man "held a sign with the words 'COLIN THE COMMIE.'" There were only a "handful of people who waved a Thin Blue Line flag meant to honor living and fallen law enforcement officers." That "paled in comparison to the approximate 500 or so demonstrators gathered on Kaepernick's behalf." More than an hour after the rally concluded, about 75 demonstrators "remained on the steps in front of the NFL's offices" (USA TODAY, 8/24). In DC, Des Bieler notes CNN's Symone Sanders and Bronze Medal-winning U.S. fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad were "among those" outside NFL HQ. Muhammad said she would "definitely" kneel in protest (WASHINGTON POST, 8/24).
OTHERS JOINING IN: The AP's Matthews & Holland note the NAACP yesterday also "called for a meeting with the NFL to discuss the fate" of Kaepernick. NAACP interim President Derrick Johnson in a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote that it is "'no sheer coincidence' that Kaepernick isn't on a roster" (AP, 8/24). In Atlanta, Vanessa McCray notes nearly 50 people gathered yesterday afternoon near Mercedes-Benz Stadium at a "rally to support" Kaepernick (AJC.com, 8/24). In N.Y., Ken Belson writes with the nation "consumed by racial division and discussion, the Kaepernick protests have spread beyond football, drawing more people not associated with the sport to speak out" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/24). YAHOO SPORTS' Anthony Sulla-Heffinger wrote Kaepernick is "not going to have a job" come Week 1, but that "doesn’t mean he’s a failure." If there is any "clear message to be taken from the raucous" rally in N.Y., it is that "his message has been -- and will continue to be -- heard, regardless of if he ever throws a pass in the league again" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/23).
OWNERS HAVE CONTROL: ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said of Kaepernick supporters, "I don't know exactly what good comes from meeting with Roger Goodell, who can't make Steve Bisciotti or Robert Kraft or Woody Johnson or any of these guys sign Colin Kaepernick if they don't want to. I think this is all great, it’s all great to go out and show support for Kaepernick, but in my opinion, I don't think this will impact them at all.” ESPN’s Mike Golic said, “Roger Goodell is not going to force an owner, the guys he works for, to give Colin Kaepernick a job. That is not going to happen ... If you truly don't like what the league is doing, fans, you have a voice, you always have a voice and that voice is -- don't pay for product, don't show up" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 8/24). In DC, Sally Jenkins writes owners "don’t really care much what Kaepernick believes, what his cause is." They care that he is a "disrupter-dissenter who refuses to play the stock character role assigned to him and might threaten a bottom line." As a result, they have "blacklisted him -- there is no other term for it -- and in doing so have unintentionally underscored his message about pervasive injustice for blacks." It will be "interesting in the extreme to see how much NFL owners care about offending large swaths of their black audience and their own players" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/24). Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said, "If the commissioner or anyone else at the league office really wanted Colin Kaepernick to be on a team, he’d be on a team by the end of the day, so that’s why it makes sense to put the pressure on the league" ("PFT," NBCSN, 8/24).
GET WITH THE PROGRAM: The GUARDIAN's Les Carpenter wrote as the NBA "encourages star players like LeBron James to speak out on social issues, the NFL’s fear of upsetting wealthy ticket buyers and corporate executives seems trapped in another era." In trying to "make Kaepernick disappear, teams have made him as visible as ever" (GUARDIAN, 8/23). FS1's Skip Bayless said of the NFL, "They run from race and religion. In this case, these guys see that Colin Kaepernick is trying to become the next Dr. King, the next Martin Luther King, and they just shrink from it. They run from it because it won’t go in their brains right" ("Undisputed," FS1, 8/24).
BIG PICTURE: In N.Y., Evan Grossman notes the Colin Kaepernick Foundation yesterday announced its "latest bundle of donations" with $100,000 "slated for three charitable organizations." The NFL is a league with a "concussion problem, a violence issue, and always seems to have trouble treating women with respect." Grossman: "Yet, a non-violent protester seeking social justice is the greatest threat to the game?" While owners like the Giants' John Mara are "hung up on the anthem demonstrations, everything else Kaepernick is doing gets ignored" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/24).
