Collusion, not politics, is what NFL players and the NFLPA "should vehemently be pushing back against" regarding Colin Kaepernick yet to land on a training camp roster, according to William Rhoden of THE UNDEFEATED. Kaepernick's fight against the NFL "is not a football issue and never has been." Anyone who believes that Kaepernick’s "continued unemployment is about ability is being dangerously naïve." Rhoden: "I’m encouraged that some NFL veteran players are beginning to speak up." If a critical mass of veteran players "begins to protest Kaepernick’s treatment, team owners may eventually be forced to yield" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 8/7). ESPN's LZ Granderson said, "It's not a football discussion" ("SportsNation," ESPN, 8/7). Fox News' Jesse Watters: "In the NFL -- sadly -- you can abuse your wife and still play. If you abuse the flag, you can't" ("The Five," Fox News, 8/7).
WHERE IS THE UNION? In N.Y., Carron Phillips writes the NFLPA has "failed Kaepernick" and notes he "can't remember the last time" he has seen NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith. The union and owners "don’t have an issue fighting over contracts and salary caps," But while an active player is "still jobless for exercising his rights, the pushback has been mild, at best." The NFLPA is "sitting back as the world watches one of their members get blackballed while they remain silent." If people "can’t speak up in this situation, what’s the point of having a union at all?" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/8). The S.F. CHRONICLE's Eric Branch as part of an SI.com roundtable said he believes Kaepernick "wants to play in the NFL again, but part of him is probably pleased the league hasn’t found a spot for him." Branch: "Among other points, it’s proving owners are uncomfortable with employees who speak their mind. I’m fairly confident Kaepernick won’t follow the advice of Michael Vick (cut his hair) or Ray Lewis (keep his mouth shut) to land a job" (SI.com, 8/7). FanSided Founder and former CEO Adam Best tweeted, "Most NFL teams would gain more fans than they would lose signing Kaepernick. Would be best-selling jersey. Owners making wrong calculation" (TWITTER.com, 8/7).
TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR: A MIAMI HERALD editorial states Kaepernick is "confronting an aggravatingly enduring issue about which too many Americans simply don't want to hear: that this, yes, great nation in which people indeed find freedom and opportunity has systematically reneged on those promises specifically" when it comes to African-Americans. The editorial: "Little of this is about Colin Kaepernick." It is "about the mirror he's holding up to America" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/8).
