By Vincent Khan
Former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick is still looking for an opportunity to play in the NFL again. Many believe that it may be time for the quarterback to give up on his NFL dreams.
On the opening week of this NFL season, New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn achilles. Now the Jets have a Super Bowl capable roster, but are left without a Super Bowl capable quarterback. Kaepernick, who has been to a Super Bowl before, asked the team for a roster spot by publicly releasing the letter he wrote to the Jets front office on Instagram. “Worst case scenario, you see what I have to offer. Best case scenario, you realize that you have a real weapon at your disposal in the event you ever need to use it.”
Many may believe Kaepernick is not in the league anymore because of his kneeling antics. He was just not that good at football. He was a celebrity and a system quarterback.
Colin Kaepernick flamed onto the NFL scene in the middle of the 2012 season. He ended up leading the team to the Super Bowl that same season. Despite contributing towards two touchdowns, he would go on to lose the game.
The next season, Kaepernick led San Francisco to a 12-4 record, making the 49er’s look like a league juggernaut. He would come mere seconds away from reaching a second straight Super Bowl but he threw an interception at the end of the game, costing them the season.
He never topped leaderboards in any quarterback statistics. The 49er’s had a strong run game and defense – which many would call a quarterback’s best friend. This made him look better than he actually was. Kaepernick’s rushing and throwing ability made him a flashy quarterback for the media to advertise. In 2012 and 2013 he only managed to post a quarterback rating of 73.7 and 67.3. Both are average at best.
Kaepernick was at best, a serviceable quarterback to plug into the 49er’s already very well rounded offense/team. He never was near the top of the league for any major quarterback statistic. Believe it or not, for as famous as he was, he never even made a pro bowl. Kaepernick’s best football accomplishments are his team accolades. He does not have the personal accolades to allow him to advertise himself as the quarterback that he thinks he is.
His real skillset came into the light between the 2014 to 2016 season. The supporting cast that helped him reach the Super Bowl at the beginning of his career was now gone. The team’s record regressed year-by-year. He led the team to an embarrassing 15-33 record over those three seasons. Not only was the team bad, but so was Kaepernick. His quarterback rating from 2014 to 2016 averaged to a stale 50.3 rating. Even after getting paid 124 million by San Francisco, he threw for an abysmal 41 touchdowns over those three seasons. He proved to be no hotter than room temperature.
Kaepernick started to kneel at the beginning of the 2016 season. When first asked for his reason for kneeling, Kaepernick said that “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” There is no concrete evidence that America oppresses black people or people of color, there are statistics to back that claim by Kaepernick.
It was actually retired Army green beret and former NFL player Nate Boyer, who had convinced Kaepernick to kneel. He said “kneeling has never been seen as a disrespectful act. People kneel when they get knighted. You kneel to propose to your wife, and you take a knee to pray. And soldiers often take a knee in front of a fallen brother’s grave to pay respects. So I thought, if anything, besides standing, that was the most respectful.”
In May of 2020 the George Floyd incident happened sparking marches and protests to happen all over the world. An organization called Black Lives Matter was at the forefront of these marches. One of their main points was police brutality which was Kaepernick’s main reason for kneeling, further giving his actions more validity and legitimacy.
His value off the field is worth more than his value on the field. His presence in a locker room would be a distraction that no teammate, coach, PR team, or owner would want to deal with. There are parallels within his meaning for kneeling and the statistics of minorities being mistreated by the police. While he could’ve conducted himself better throughout the kneeling antics, his point still stands.
