Part II, The martyrdom begins
As I said at the end of part I, Colin at the time of the first kneel down was closer to being out of the NFL than being in it. He no longer was the brash hero saving anyones day. Injuries and surgeries had taken their toll, and he was reduced to being a sideline yard ornament. After speaking with a man from the military (Retired Army Green Beret Nate Boyer) he was sold on taking the knee in protest. Let me state now that I myself believe in the cause that Colin was trying to support. My issue has always been that he chose one of the worst ways possible to protest. The whole idea of a protest is to bring attention to the issue. You are trying to bring about change. The only way to do that is to get there attention on a platform that the intended audience can sympathize with you about. You want to open minds, not close them. Carrying it out the way he did it brought plenty of attention, but most all of it bad. The kind that cements people into a negative view of your cause.
By seemingly disrespecting the flag and the anthem and our military past and present he literally slammed shut any opening in the door there may have been for dialogue, or anything else for that matter. Most people closed their mind to the whole thing when he chose to do it in the way he did. This wasn't something that Kaepernick did on the spot, or out of nowhere on an impulse. He thought about this before he did it, premeditated if you will. When you are a public figure, celebrity, star athlete etc. It is even more important for you to gauge your actions, your words so as not to overly offend and upset the people who have helped make you rich. If you put yourself out there in some sort of manner that brings negative results home to you. Then that is on you, and you alone. What comes your way is of your own doing. You must accept the responsibility of your actions. Free speech isn't really free at all. it carries with it a price tag.
In early 2017 Kaepernick was released by the Niners so that he could catch on somewhere else in an NFL City. A couple teams showed some interest, but in the end, he could not even get a workout, much less sign with a different team. He believed he had been black-balled from the NFL because of his protests. My reaction to that is, oh well. It was your decision to make, and he made his choice. By his own actions, he made himself unemployable. Who is going to sign a guy that a majority of fans have an almost hate for? Any team that would bring him aboard would certainly lose money and fan support. That isn't by device of NFL Owners, that is What Kaps own actions did. He would file a suit against the NFL over this very subject of being blackballed. I will revisit this later in the article.
Completely by my own opinion I believe that one of the driving forces that caused him to carry out the protest. Was to become relevant again. To regain some of the popularity that he had enjoyed for most his life. He pretty much had to know that his chances at regaining his former playing ability were bleak. This maybe was his last chance at getting into something that would continue to pay off for him in wealth, and fame even after the NFL. The guy grew up living in priviledge. A gated community in a mostly white area, where he was one of a very small percentage of black students at his high school. He was the big man on campus. What exactly does any of that have to do with what blacks all over this nation have had to endure at the hands of white policemen, who are racist, or just made poor decisions and were not well trained, or just didn't belong in that profession. He doesn't know their pain, their oppression first hand, he was the golden boy who never wanted for anything his entire life. This doesn't mean of course that he doesn't feel for those that have been victims. I'm sure he does. I just believe there was more that went into his protesting than the victims, and trying to change things.
Next up Part III - The Atlanta workout, all show no substance
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