How Was Yesterday's March Supposed to Get Colin Kaepernick Back in the NFL?
Supporters of Colin Kaepernick hold rally at NFL headquarters. Read more: https://t.co/da7zhwyQqQ pic.twitter.com/aoii2h2lGR
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 24, 2017
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As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m not a Protest Guy. As a matter of fact I’m not sure I have a single friend or family member who’s a Protest Guy. Sure, there are issues that piss me off. I’ve lived my whole life in a state that is mismanaged by a kleptocracy of corrupt thieves who treat the taxpayer like an ATM with no cash limit. (And I ought to know; I used to work for them.) So we’ve got plenty to protest. But to me it just sounds like so much work.
Taking a day off. Making a sign. Trudging into the city on the train or, god forbid, looking for parking. All that marching. Trying to come up with slogans to yell. Fighting the crowds. Dodging flying bottles of urine. It’s just not my jam, regardless of the cause. And I figure one less person there isn’t going to make a difference. Like last weekend, I had the chance to tell neo-Nazis to go to hell. Which is the kind of fun that doesn’t often present itself. But ultimately decided if I opted instead to sit by the pool with some craft beer and a cigar, no one would notice my absence. It’s not pro-Nazi as much as it is pro-laziness. I would have made the same choice if it were fireworks or a championship parade.
So I’m probably not one to judge the effectiveness of any march. But still, for the life of me I can’t make sense of this pro-Colin Kaepernick demonstration outside NFL headquarters. Not because the marchers’ premise is wrong. It’s obvious that Kaepernick is a good enough quarterback to be in the league (11 starts, 16 TD, 4 INT, 90.7 PR), but teams don’t want that media circus. That is without question. But what exactly did they hope to accomplish?
My point about any protest is that if you’re going to take time away from your job, your family and your life to march about something, you need to be specific. You’re marching against whom and what exactly are you telling them to do? Martin Luther King marched to get the Civil Rights Act passed. In the 60s & 70s, people went to Washington to tell them to pull out of Vietnam. The Brady Four got arrested at NFL headquarters because they wanted Tom Brady freed and to sell t-shirts.
I’m not one to ever defend NFL management and how they handle anything, but the people on Park Ave aren’t punishing Kaepernick. There’s no suspension to lift. No punishment to reverse. So basically the whole exercise is a waste of time. If you want to protest to get Kaepernick back in the league, you’ve got to take it to the individuals you think are doing the actual blackballing.
By my math, there are probably 14 NFL teams with decent-to-great quarterback situations. And maybe four more trying to develop young QBs (Rams, Bears, Texans, Bears). That leaves give-or-take 14 teams you can specifically go after for not signing your guy. But are you going to call them all racist? Is Chris Grier in Miami a racist because he’d rather pull Jay Cutler out of the broadcast booth than deal with the headache that is Kaepernick? Does the owner of the Jags Shahid Kahn hate minorities because he’s stuck settling for Chad Henne over Blake Bortles, or does he hate controversy? John Elway fucked up royally moving up in the draft to get Paxton Lynch and now has to go with Trevor Simian. Is anyone marching on his office in Denver demanding social justice? And while you’re in New York, wouldn’t you like to have a word with the Jets?
Bottom line is that if you’re going to protest, have a point. Be focused. The broader your complaint, the less effective it will be. Believe me, I’m all down with the cause of angry people yelling at Roger Goodell about anything. But telling him to get Kaepernick back in the NFL is no more useful than the Occupy crowd going off on banks and corporations while using credit cards and iPhones to buy shit from Amazon.
To their credit though, they did get a kickass t-shirt out of it.
