In response to my piece on the NFL changing its position on taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem at football games over the last year, a reader writes:
He’d [Kaepernick] somehow have to become a very good quarterback for anyone to want to hire him. And not be a locker room cancer[.] Better players than him have been let go because they were an overall detriment to the team.
I’ve never paid attention to the NFL to the extent that I could comment on many players outside of the Minnesota Vikings, and I haven’t paid attention to the Vikes for a good decade, if not more. So my thoughts on the skills of Colin Kaepernick are confined to the observation that he was a starting Super Bowl quarterback, and, from what I read in a bit of research, a credible attack both on the ground and through the air.
But that was several years ago. If he’s lost a step or his arm is no longer good then he’s not as valuable. At age 32, he’s a trifle old compared to the average quarterback, but that’s apples and oranges – he’s had several years off from the grind and may be far healthier than that average quarterback.
But I suspect he’s not a danger of being a locker room cancer. I doubt there’s a significant number of black players that disagree with his stand on the issue of taking a knee, and probably most of the white players, if they didn’t before, will agree with him now. My sense is that the nation’s citizenry is rapidly learning how the black community has been oppressed over the entire lifetime of this country, and while some are resistant to learning – the police forces of certain cities seem to be enjoying dealing out brutality, for example – I am hoping most will figure it out. For those readers who may be feeling uncertain about the black community’s woes, WaPo published a fine piece on the matter. Recently, notorious right wing pundit Erick Erickson expressed doubt as to the reality expressed in the phrase ‘white privilege’, because he had worked his ass off to get to where he is today, wherever that might be. I would have to ask if he’s ever experienced anything like the descriptions in the WaPo article.
