Dori: NFL teams recognize Kaepernick is more trouble than he’s worth
Apr 13, 2018, 6:33 AM
Colin Kaepernick. (AP)
(AP)
I’m really surprised by an ESPN report that the Seahawks were considering bringing Colin Kaepernick in again for a workout. According to the report, the Seahawks contacted Kaepernick two weeks ago but postponed the trip when Kaepernick refused to say whether he would stop kneeling during the national anthem next season.
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It sounds very similar to what happened a year ago when the Seahawks were the only team that gave Kaepernick a workout. I believe that the Seahawks and the other 31 teams in the NFL have independently reached the same conclusion about Kaepernick — he’s way more trouble than he’s worth.
No team wants their backup quarterback to be a clown show and Kaepernick is too much of a distraction. If he just wants to play football and leave his protesting to the other days of the week, that would be fine. But the Seahawks just moved on from Michael Bennett, who was sitting for the anthem all last year, and Richard Sherman, who proved to be a divisive force. The Seahawks don’t need distractions; the last thing the Seahawks need is Colin Kaepernick’s anthem antics.
You have 32 teams that have independently arrived at the conclusion that this player brings more negatives than positives. NFL ratings are at an all-time low because the fans are sick of having politics mixed in. If he is going to insist on doing this on game day, he’s not going to have a game day platform to protest from.
You don’t want a swarm of television cameras and microphones every game with your backup quarterback. That’s not good for locker room morale — it’s someone who has decided to put himself above and before the team. And that’s the last thing that any NFL team wants. If Kaepernick wants to protest, he can do it at night or on his Tuesday off — not during the game.
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If you want to be an NFL player, part of one of the most competitive sports, you’ve got to be all in with that being your priority. If you’re using football as your platform for social activism, then you’re not all in as a football player.
In this case, he subtracts more than he adds. No team needs that; the Seahawks certainly don’t need that. If this report is correct, I applaud the Seahawks. Good for the Seahawks — good for ascertaining that before wasting any of the team’s time and any of Kaepernick’s time. Football is a great team sport. And when people decide that they are going to make themselves bigger and more prominent than the team, they’re not worth it.
