Weekend Hot Reads....

The N.Y. TIMES wrote under the header, "The Awakening Of Colin Kaepernick." Kaepernick at the Univ. of Nevada "began a journey that led him to his position as one of the most prominent, if divisive, social activists in sports." Outside of politics, there may be "nobody in popular culture at this complex moment so divisive and so galvanizing, so scorned and so appreciated." Meanwhile, author Dave Zirin, who is working on Seahawks DE Michael Bennett's autobiography, pens an op-ed in the L.A. TIMES under the header, "The NFL Wants You To Think Colin Kaepernick Isn't Being Sidelined By Politics. The NFL Is Wrong -- Again." The NFL "seems to believe that shutting out Kaepernick will be like a crack of the whip across the backs of its players, stamping out dissent, keeping everyone in line." But the "opposite has been the case."

Elsewhere:

• Sign-stealing could prevent pace of play improvement.
• What does a college pay for its football coach?
• NASCAR needs to be fixed after a “mess of a week.”
• The “secrets” behind taking CFL teams on the roads.