SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: NFL teams recognize Kaepernick is more trouble than he’s worth

Apr 13, 2018, 6:33 AM

Colin Kaepernick...

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.

RELATED: Seahawks postponed Kaepernick’s visit after protest discussion

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.

RELATED: How Kaepernick’s placement as a Seahawk could hurt Seattle traffic

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.

ICE Seattle Center shooting...

Jack Bilyeu, KIRO 7 News

KIRO 7 Exclusive: Video shows ICE arrest during Seattle Center mass shooting investigation

Footage obtained exclusively by KIRO 7 showed ICE arresting a man near Seattle Center Monday morning while the cleanup and investigation into Sunday night’s mass shooting was happening only feet away.

2 minutes ago

Associated Press

A 10-year-old saved his sister as they struggled in a New Jersey river before he died, mayor says

PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) — A boy died and a second child was missing after the two 10-year-olds went into a rain-swollen river while playing in a park in Passaic, New Jersey, authorities said. A third child in the water, age 11, survived. The local mayor said her life might have been saved by her brother, […]

15 minutes ago

Erica Schwartz testifies during a Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions committee confirmation...

Associated Press

Senate committee advances nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz to be Trump’s CDC director

NEW YORK (AP) — A Senate committee on Thursday advanced Dr. Erica Schwartz’s nomination to be director of the nation’s top public health agency, setting aside concerns that she will not stand up to political meddling. If confirmed by the full Senate, the 54-year-old would become the 22nd director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease […]

16 minutes ago

Lindsay Clancy attends her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., on Wednesday...

Associated Press

After Lindsay Clancy killed her 3 children, first responders tell a jury what they found

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — First responders will offer jurors a firsthand account Thursday of what they found after Lindsay Clancy killed her three children and tried to end her life, during what her lawyers argue was an episode of postpregnancy psychosis. The testimony comes a day after jurors listened to the anguished 911 call made […]

39 minutes ago

bite of seattle 15-year-old laws...

Charlie Harger

Harger: A 15-year-old allegedly opened fire at the Bite of Seattle. Two broken laws will almost certainly let him walk

The bullets that killed Whitehead and Villalba do not appear to have come from the teen's gun. Think about what a defense attorney does with that.

43 minutes ago

rabid bat renton gene coulon park...

KIRO 7 News Staff

Rabid bat found near playground at Renton’s Gene Coulon Park

Health officials are warning the public that a rabid bat was found near a popular park in Renton.

2 hours ago

Dori: NFL teams recognize Kaepernick is more trouble than he’s worth