How Colin Kaepernick defeated the NFL, with a little help from Donald Trump

[The Barbarian]

His settlement with the league is a major victory for the leader of the league’s protest movement.

On Friday, the NFL and representatives for Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid announced that they had settled a grievance suit with the two players over alleged collusion to keep them out of the league because of their protests during the anthem.


“For the past several months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Reid have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the NFL. As a result of those discussions, the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances,” the NFL and Kaepernick and Reid’s attorneys said in a joint announcement. “The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement so there will be no further comment by any party.”


Although the precise details of the settlement are as of yet unknown, it’s difficult to view the resolution as anything but a victory for Kaepernick and Reid. It will certainly be a win for the players financially. Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman reported that NFL teams were speculating the settlement with Kaepernick alone could have been in the $60 million to $80 million range.
...
Both the Kaepernick and Reid grievances cited President Donald Trump’s role in pressuring NFL owners to bar any players who protested during the national anthem. The New York Times reported that NFL owners held a closed-door meeting in October 2017 in which a number of them appeared terrified of Trump. The Wall Street Journal further reported that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had been asked by Trump to deliver a message to the owners about the protest movement. “This is a very winning, strong issue for me,” Trump said, according to the Journal’s account of Jones’ deposition. “Tell everybody, you can’t win this one. This one lifts me.”


Now it appears that listening to Trump on the issue may have cost owners—and won Kaepernick—many millions of dollars without doing anything to stop the years-long discussion around police brutality and systemic racism that Kaepernick, Reid, and other NFL protesters helped generate.


Meanwhile, Kaepernick has been honored by multiple human rights organizations for his stand for social justice, and in September was made the face of a new Nike campaign that used his status as a modern-day civil rights icon to sell sneakers.

 

[redleghunter]

What team does he play with now?

 

[eleos1954]

What team does he play with now?

I think he plays for the team of nada ;o)

 

[The Barbarian]

Colin Kaepernick to be honored by Milwaukee after Republicans in Madison reject effort to recognize him
Colin Kaepernick to be honored by Milwaukee after Republicans in Madison reject effort to recognize him

Colin Kaepernick among 8 honored at Harvard for contributions to black history
The former NFL quarterback received the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal.
Colin Kaepernick among 8 honored at Harvard for contributions to black history

Colin Kaepernick honored by Amnesty International for peaceful protest
Colin Kaepernick honored by Amnesty International for peaceful protest

Colin Kaepernick honored with ACLU award
Colin Kaepernick honored with ACLU award - CNN

Report: Colin Kaepernick's Nike Contract Worth 'Millions,' Will Get Branded Line
Report: Colin Kaepernick's Nike Contract Worth 'Millions,' Will Get Branded Line

What team does he play with now?

The United States of America, apparently. The best revenge is living well.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

Can he just go away now?

 

[The Barbarian]

Can he just go away now?

Given the response he's gotten after being politically blacklisted, I suspect not. Best get comfortable with it.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

No pun intended, but I'm glad he found the courage to stand up for what he believes in. As an activist myself, I admire him for what he did and I hope he continues his activism. I respect him for it.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

Given the response he's gotten after being politically blacklisted, I suspect not. Best get comfortable with it.

I know from personal experience that it isn't easy to go against the expected norm of standing up to honor America when the national anthem is played or for refusing to recite the pledge of allegiance.

 

[Basil the Great]

What team does he play with now?

I think that I read where some attorney predicted that he will end up signing for the same team that the player that took a knee with him recently for and I think that is Carolina, but without checking, I am not certain.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

Given the response he's gotten after being politically blacklisted, I suspect not. Best get comfortable with it.

Or ignore him.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

What team does he play with now?

None, and he will never set foot on an NFL field again.

 

[The Barbarian]

None, and he will never set foot on an NFL field again.

Nor will many, many fans. This was a PR disaster for the NFL, which is already in decline. I've heard at church, people remarking that the NFL handles thugs who beat women up with kid gloves, but don't want someone who peacefully kneels during the National Anthem.

How did it work for Reuben Foster? He repeatedly fails drug tests, beats up a woman, got dropped by one team, and then picked up by another. The justification?

"We got people who are in high, high, high, high places that have done far worse, if you look at it realistically," Redskins executive Doug Williams said Thursday during a radio interview. "And they're still up there. "

In other words, he didn't brag about sexually assaulting women on television, so he can't be as bad as the guy in the WH. He didn't collude with Russians, and then lie to the FBI about it, so he's not as bad as the people who are supposed to be working for us.

And the worst of it is, they've got an arguable case there. That's where the bar is these days.

 

[The Barbarian]

Maybe it's always been that way in the NFL. But they never could make that argument before.

"Yeah, he's a druggie, and he beats up women. But he's not as bad as the president of the United States."

 

[The Barbarian]

I know from personal experience that it isn't easy to go against the expected norm of standing up to honor America when the national anthem is played or for refusing to recite the pledge of allegiance.

I'm pretty old, so I'm of a generation that gets emotional when they play the national anthem. But I understand that the whole point of America is that you don't have to stand for it if you don't want to.

It's not North Korea; at least not yet.

You gotta give him credit. How many young guys -- he was like 26 or 25 when his father died -- take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden ... he goes in, he takes over, and he’s the boss," Trump said. "It's incredible. He wiped out the uncle, he wiped out this one, that one. I mean this guy doesn't play games. And we can't play games with him.
Trump praising Kim Jong Il

 

[Shiloh Raven]

I'm pretty old, so I'm of a generation that gets emotional when they play the national anthem. But I understand that the whole point of America is that you don't have to stand for it if you don't want to.

I grew up having American patriotism shoved down my throat at home and at school. I began to reject all of that when I became involved in Native American activism as a young adult.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

Nor will many, many fans. This was a PR disaster for the NFL, which is already in decline. I've heard at church, people remarking that the NFL handles thugs who beat women up with kid gloves, but don't want someone who peacefully kneels during the National Anthem.

How did it work for Reuben Foster? He repeatedly fails drug tests, beats up a woman, got dropped by one team, and then picked up by another. The justification?

"We got people who are in high, high, high, high places that have done far worse, if you look at it realistically," Redskins executive Doug Williams said Thursday during a radio interview. "And they're still up there. "

In other words, he didn't brag about sexually assaulting women on television, so he can't be as bad as the guy in the WH. He didn't collude with Russians, and then lie to the FBI about it, so he's not as bad as the people who are supposed to be working for us.

And the worst of it is, they've got an arguable case there. That's where the bar is these days.

LOL - The NFL isn't going anywhere.

 

[Tigger45]

Most stalwart Trumpters have no foresight and treat Kaepernick as Rosa Parks was during that sad episode of American history.

 

[The Barbarian]

LOL - The NFL isn't going anywhere.

Last three years, going down. It will probably not crash and burn like NASCAR, but it's in a decline. I'm thinking it's combination of things. Coddling thugs while banning peaceful dissent-

Two-thirds of adult Americans believe NFL players have the right to kneel in protest during the national anthem, but the country is divided as to whether they actually approve of the demonstrations, according to poll results released by Quinnipiac University on Thursday.

Among U.S. voters, 67 percent said players have the legal right to protest, compared to 30 percent who said they do not have the right. Black, white and Hispanic respondents all supported the right to protest, while Republican voters opposed the right in the context of the NFL.

While most Americans support the concept of protests, voters are split down the middle on whether kneeling during the national anthem is the proper method. Of the poll’s respondents, 47 percent said they approved of players kneeling to protest police brutality and social injustice, while 47 percent disapproved.
Most Americans support NFL players' right to kneel: Poll

increasingly boring games-

The NFL is boring.

Over the past two years, its ratings have dropped. The President of the United States of America, along with folks whose fair and balanced news sources are akin to America Online chain letters, scream it’s because a fraction of the league shows signs of protest during the National Anthem.

Others say it’s because of cord cutting, and a general decline in television viewing by the public en masse.

To my eye, the problem is much simpler: it’s a boring viewing experience. If you don’t have money on a game, players on a fantasy team, or a paycheck coming from covering the sport do you watch random NFL games? It’s a slog. Albeit one that can be fixed.

Stop complaining about the national anthem protests.
If players protesting social inequities and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem before an NFL game is ruining football for you, you should probably stop watching football. Instead, go volunteer at the VA every Sunday. That way they won’t see the protests and the veterans you’re so upset about being offended will get the actual help they need.

It’s a win-win for everyone.
The NFL is boring: Time to make it fun again

and the problem of brain injuries, mostly.

A new study on brain injuries and football reveal that even one season of youth football can result in brain damage.


A study presented Monday at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America found that head impacts in a single year of football can affect the brain's effectiveness in "gray matter pruning," or clearing out dead synapses.



Gowtham Krishnan Murugesan, M.S., a research assistant at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, likened the process to pruning a tree to ensure its health.


“Pruning is an essential part of brain development. By getting rid of the synapses that are no longer used, the brain becomes more efficient with aging," Murugesan said. "This research demonstrates that playing a season of contact sports may affect normal gray matter pruning in high school and youth football players."
Even 1 season of youth football may damage brain, study says

Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz, in a column posted Thursday, cited Larry Csonka along with a couple of other tough guys – former pro wrestler Christopher Nowinski and teammate Nick Buoniconti – in making a case against tackle football for youngsters. Tough guys help get a point across in a column he knows will draw the “obligatory eye roll” from people worried about the “wussification” of today’s youth.

(Flag football is) much safer, still exposes kids to the game, and chances are great that they won’t walk away from the game in a fuzzy haze.

George Diaz, Orlando Sentinel

Diaz cites some grim statistics. For instance, 96 percent of deceased NFL players and 79 percent of all football players studied in autopsies exhibited CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) a progressive and degenerative brain disease.
Here’s how to let kids play football while preventing brain injury, ‘wussification’

 

[redleghunter]

While most Americans support the concept of protests, voters are split down the middle on whether kneeling during the national anthem is the proper method.

Fans stopped watching last year during the kneel downs.

 

[The Barbarian]

Fans stopped watching last year during the kneel downs.

They stopped watching in 2017.

NFL television ratings down 9.7 percent during 2017 regular season
TV ratings for NFL down 9.7 percent during '17

As you see, most Americans think NFL players have a right to kneel during the national anthem.

A solid majority of American voters — with the exception of Republicans — believe that NFL players can take a knee during the National Anthem and still be patriots, a new poll said Thursday.


American voters by 58 percent to 35 percent said the players were not unpatriotic, the Quinnipiac University survey found.


But Republican voters, by a wide margin of 70 percent to 23 percent, said that players who kneel to protest police violence and social injustice are not patriots.


White voters with no college degree were divided, with 46 percent saying yes and the same percentage saying no. All others listed by political party, gender, education, age and race said they were not unpatriotic.


Voters also said by 53 percent to 43 percent that professional athletes have the right to protest on the playing field or court. Men and women agree, but there were wide racial and party divisions.
https://nypost.com/2018/06/07/most-voters-are-fine-with-nfl-players-anthem-kneeling-poll/