Getty Former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick would be a good option to step in after Patrick Mahomes' injury.
Is Colin Kaepernick returning to the NFL?
According to an article written by RESPECT Magazine’s Eric Salvary, quarterback coach and athlete performance specialist Madei Williams suggests that there are seven NFL teams that could be fits for Kaepernick.
I discussed Colin Kaepernick, Nike & more today on @i24NEWS_EN
The list of teams the could potentially use Kaepernick’s services according to Salvary and Williams include the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Three NFL pre-seasons ago, Colin Kaepernick refused to stand during the playing of the U.S. national anthem.
All indications point to the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback acknowledging wrongdoings of African Americans and minorities like Eric Garner and Philando Castile, who were brutally murdered by police officers.
”I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL network’s Steve Wyche during the NFL’s preseason three years ago.
“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Kaepernick would later kneel instead of deciding to not participate during the playing of the U.S. national anthem before NFL games.
That didn’t sit well with many including former Notre Dame University’s head football coach, Lou Holtz.
Coach Holtz holds a 249-132-7 coaching record most notably with Notre Dame. Holtz, 80, guided his Fighting Irish team to a College National Championship win in 1988. He remains 11th on the NCAA’s all-time win list for Division I-A coaches.
Holtz believes that old school values that he learned should apply to Kaepernick’s story.
“Respect the town and respect for elders,” Holtz told me on Scoop B Radio.
“Respect for teachers, respect for coaches, and respect for the law. I have had unfair things done and I have gotten a ticket because I have been in Oklahoma and the coach thought we beat him. And the policeman gave me a ticket.And there wasn’t a god darn thing I could do about it. You know what? Life isn’t always fair.”
FS1’s Cris Carter, an eight-time Pro-Bowler during his playing career in the NFL, had a different perspective.
While speaking with Eric Salvary and other members of TheBlackManCan Institute in Manhattan, the issue isn’t about the flag. “So now you tell me that if guys don’t observe the national anthem they are not going to able to play,” said Carter.
More via a transcript from Basketball Society Online:
“Well we’ve been accepting guys who have been convicted of murder, but now you’re telling me I can’t exercise my right as a United States citizen? You’d much rather have that? What about the guys who have committed sexual assault that are playing in the NFL and nobody has said nothing? But no one is thinking of dropping out, even when they have violated someone’s daughter and people don’t care. But now all of a sudden, we’re that patriotic about that flag. Well let me tell you the truth about the flag: The NFL has a deal with the military and that’s why the flags are out there. So the military is paying the NFL, millions of dollars every year. So now they are getting ready to make it a requirement for us. Well, we are getting ready to do something. We are not going to honor that; it’s because we are in partnership–the owners and the players, everything’s collective bargaining; we got a union. Oh, y’all gonna have a secret meeting and change it without us? So I stand with the player, I kneel with the players, it’s not in disrespect to the flag.”
Kaepernick led the San Francisco 49ers to an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII and was in a contract year when took his stance on the American Flag.
Kaepernick’s refusal triggered other athletes like Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul, New York Knicks, NBA free agent, Carmelo Anthony and recently retired Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade to join their WNBA counterparts in becoming vocal about police brutality of minorities.
Will Colin Kaepernick Play in the NFL This Season?
“He might get an opportunity,” two-time NBA Champion, Craig Hodges told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“But if he is not in somebody’s training camp I don’t think he will play again in the NFL because out of sight out of mind.
“And in the sport, unlike basketball where you might be able to sit out twelve months and still be able to come back and play, but the question becomes in that twelve months: “Is anybody even going to mess with you anymore?” Because they already said you are obsolete because you have been twelve months away from the game.”
For those keeping score at home: Craig Hodges was blackballed by the NBA after he handed a letter to former U.S. President George H.W. Bush during the Bulls’ championship visit to the White House.
The letter made President Bush aware of the mistreatment of poor people and people of color in the United States.
“I did whatever I could to uplift the cause of our people man,” Hodges told me.
Here’s the million-dollar question: If Colin Kaepernick were to be picked up by an NFL team, would he kneel during the national anthem again?
“I’m pretty sure Colin Kaepernick isn’t going to take a knee anymore,” Craig Hodges told Scoop B Radio.
“There isn’t a need to take a knee anymore. I think now it’s just a matter of him wanting to play football. If he gets a chance to play football he is going to play football and do what he is capable of doing. Hopefully he gets that opportunity.”