Part III final section
It is important to me that the reader understands that I could be completely off base about my feelings concerning Mr. Kaepernick. It's just the way that I came to feel about it after taking in all the facts. We all know what opinions are made of. This is just mine.
Because the NFL so obviously black-balled Kaepernick (What else could they possibly do facing such a huge downside for any team that brought him in?) Kaepernick and Eric Reid won their suit, and the figure they received was never disclosed, but it was said to be less than 10 million. It goes without saying that with his guaranteed money from his Frisco contract. His deal with Nike, the NFL suit money, and money from appearances etc. he's set for life.
Kaepernick is all about publicity, look at me. So when the NFL got in touch with him to set up a workout for interested teams to attend. He turned it into a circus. I believe he had no interest in getting back into the NFL at that point. Because if he had, he would not have handled the situation the way that he did. After agreeing to the NFL's offer of showing up to the Falcons training facilities for the workout. Kaepernick on the day of, threw a massive curve ball at the NFL. Stating that he would not honor the agreement. He would have the workout, but not at Atlanta's facilities, instead at Charles R. Drew High School about an hour away from the original site. The following is the tweet that Kap made following the NFL contacting him concerning the Atlanta workout.
Nov 12, 2019
"I’m just getting word from my representatives that the NFL league office reached out to them about a workout in Atlanta on Saturday. I’ve been in shape and ready for this for 3 years, can’t wait to see the head coaches and GMs on Saturday." Quote from Kaepernick tweet
There were some differences in what the League wanted with the rights to the video footage. and etc, etc. Kaepernick's people, and he himself wanted the rights to that video footage of the work out. Forgive me for not seeing the importance of video with Colin in it. It occurred to me that when someone really wants to get a job, you know gamefull employment and all that good stuff. They just do not pull the stunts that Kaepernick pulled at the Atlanta workout. There were a good number of NFL Teams represented that showed up in Atlanta to get a look at Kaepernick. After changing the venue to an hour away, only a few teams made the trek to the new local.
There were other signs that this was a going through the motions on both sides type of deal. Players from the waiver wire/free agents etc generally sign documents that protect the NFL and it's teams from any kind of injury incurred during the workout that would hurt the players future earnings in the league. It's a common practice that occurs all the time when teams bring in players for a workout, and evaluation. Kaepernick refused to sign the documents. In the judgement against the league that Kap, and Ed Reed won for the black balling of the both of them by NFL Teams. There was no language in it that would protect the NFL from future Indemnity by the two players. Nevertheless, the League could point at the scheduled workout in Atlanta as proof that they tried to afford the men with a glowing chance to get back into the league. Let's cut through the crap. Not one team had shown any interest in signing either one in the three years since being let go. The likelihood that any would pull the trigger in Atlanta and seriously consider signing Kap at this juncture were far- fetched, and extremely unlikely.
It was all a bunch of posturing, and faking moves to satisfy both sides. Colin Kaepernick and Ed Reed made themselves martyrs, and their playing days were essentially forfeited when they took that ever so famous knee in protest that faithful day in San Francisco. Kaepernick's life as an NFL Quarterback has been over for a good time now. The scheduled Atlanta workout was little more than a media circus at best, and Kap only made it even more of one by not playing by the agreed terms. It's not hard to come to the same conclusions that I myself did after examining the situation that occurred in Atlanta. He's happy as a bug in a rug doing just what he's doing now. He's set for life, and still earning money in addition to earlier earnings etc. He is surely more popular, and in the news than he would have been on an NFL team with diminishing talent from injuries that had occurred before being released by the Forty-Niners. He was on his way out anyway before the taking of the knee which started all the kicked up dust, and thrust him back into the limelight.
Colin Kaepernick needed to get back into the league about as much as both sides needed a hole in their head. He's doing just what he wanted to do. He's seen by many as a hero. He's the unsignable martyr, and that suits him just fine in my opinion. The price of free speech can be steep, nothing much free about it at all. For a select few it's not only free, but can afford some a very lucrative lifestyle and a platform for continued fame and adoration.
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