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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Kaepernick Waiver Would Have Given NFL Broad Protections

The broad language in the NFL's waiver would have given the league certain legal protectionsGETTY IMAGES

The NFL ahead of Colin Kaepernick's workout on Saturday presented a waiver that "reached beyond the injury protections that are typically afforded to the NFL and its teams" and "contained language that, had Kaepernick signed it, could have given the league footing to argue that he'd signed away some of his employment protections," according to Charles Robinson of YAHOO SPORTS. The workout was a "Trojan horse," and the NFL's "weapon was the waiver planted inside it." Given the "broad language of the waiver, the NFL could have altered any agreements made with Kaepernick, regardless of how damaging those changes or actions might have been" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/18).

THE WINNER BY DECISION...: YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote Kaepernick had "two chances to tip the scales in his favor Saturday." One was to "improve the perception of his talent." The other was to "decrease the perception of his liabilities." It "doesn't appear it went well" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/18). In S.F., Ann Killion writes the "NFL -- unprompted -- created its own bizarre media circus" surrounding Kaepernick. Killion: "We know what Kaepernick's motives are. But what exactly are the NFL's?" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/19). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Jason Gay writes what "seems certain is that this whole situation is now worse." If the NFL was "hoping for a shot of positivity from this -- praise for an olive branch extended -- that is kaput" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/19). THE UNDEFEATED's William Rhoden wrote Kaepernick "outmaneuvered the NFL." No matter what the league "had in mind, it failed." Kaepernick can "win with his mind" and that is "what he did Saturday." That is what "frightens the NFL" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 11/18). Former NFLer Donovan McNabb yesterday said the NFL "tried to control everything" with Kaepernick's workout, and it "really made them look bad" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 11/19).

STAYING ON THE SIDELINES: PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio notes several reports last week "suggested that Jay-Z had influence over the decision to stage a workout" for Kaepernick. But others connected to the workout "insist that Jay-Z had nothing to do with it, suggesting that he may be simply trying to claim partial credit in order to undo some of the damage done when he partnered with the NFL." Florio: "Whatever Jay-Z's position, why won't he say what it is?" For a guy who "wore a Kaepernick jersey on 'SNL' in the early months of Kaepernick's still-lingering unemployment, the silence over the past week has becoming deafening" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 11/19).

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