Colin Kaepernick has been blackballed by the NFL, and that should be unsettling for anyone with a conscious.
Kaepernick could play in the league today, even if he hasn’t played in nearly two years. Look at Ryan Mallett, who was brought in by the playoff hopeful Washington Redskins for a workout Tuesday; he’s thrown a mere 22 passes the last two seasons.
The Redskins weren’t willing to even allow Kaepernick to try out Tuesday — hosting Landry Jones and Mallett — but Washington was just fine with signing Reuben Foster, who was cut by the San Francisco 49ers due to his arrest for domestic violence.
“The league is letting you know it’s O.K. to commit crimes, get arrested, hit women,” Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall, a friend of Colin Kaepernick and a fellow activist said on Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro. “But if you stand out on your beliefs, something that’s really happening in society, then that’s a no-no. If you mess with their money – people trying to boycott the league and that stuff – it’s a no-no.”
The Redskins were “destroyed on twitter” for not bringing Kaepernick in even for a workout.
And the “with us or against us” culture of the NFL has become clear as day, specifically with Kaepernick. Safety Eric Reed, who’s also knelt during the National Anthem like Marshall and Kapernick, is back in the NFL, now with the Carolina Panthers. He’s been given five “random” drug tests already this year, which is way outside of the norm.
“But, it’s actually disgusting,” Marshall continued on teams colluding to keep Kaepernick out of the league. “He hasn’t committed any crimes, he hasn’t done anything wrong, hasn’t hurt anybody. He’s really only helped people. He’s donated a bunch, he’s done everything you can ask from a standpoint of backing your words up, backing your actions up. And they don’t want him.”
Broncos fans only have to look at their 2017 quarterback disaster to know Kaepernick would have been a better quarterback than either Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch or Brock Osweiler. Really, Denver fans don’t have to even look back that far. Take last week, for instance.
With Andy Dalton placed on the Injured Reserve last Monday, backup Jeff Driskel had to step in and start, with the Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff lives on the line.
“He could’ve played better than that, first of all,” Marshall said of Kapernick compared to how Jeff Driskel played last Sunday. “But, people would rather have him on the sideline than win games. I guess they’d rather not have the fans get riled up or have anybody boycott…”
“I guess they’re disgusted by him,” Marshall finished.
Get Marshall’s entire interview, including his thoughts on Phillip Lindsay and when the team finally got over the hump, by tuning into Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro here:
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