From a mother’s perspective: The Colin Kaepernick debacle

 

 Remember the summer of Colin Kaepernick?  No team would sign him and it became an issue of color.  It wasn’t about color – it was about appropriateness and respect.  It also isn’t about Freedom of Speech as many have said.  Kaepernick has the right to express his opinion and protest as everyone else does, but where he did it was the issue.

Kaepernick was the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He played in 69 games, had 72 touchdowns, 30 interceptions, total yards of 12,271, 30 interceptions, and a rating of 88.9.  His stats say a lot about his potential and his six years in the NFL.

But the league has spoken and shown that when it is time to play football, fans have no respect for bringing politics onto the football field.  His protesting of police violence and injustices regarding racial issues by kneeling during the National Anthem before games may have crossed a line of patriotism and was offensive to many NFL fans, to the point that some even stopped watching football altogether.

The Baltimore Ravens were in talks with Kaepernick to be a backup due to Joe Flacco’s back injury and the fans went ballistic on social media, saying they would change their loyalties if he was signed and that they would boycott games.  It appears Kaepernick’s girlfriend Nessa Diab may have sealed his fate with her “Django Unchained” referenced tweet with Ray Lewis and Steve Bisciotti.  This may have been Kaepernick’s closest shot to being a part of the NFL for the 2018 season, but it didn’t happen.  Kaepernick’s other potential was an interview with Seattle and Coach Carroll passed on signing him.

As of this writing, Kaepernick has not signed with a team for this season.  It seems as though, while the media has something to say about this everyday, it appears that he has been ostracized because of his political views and his literal taking those views onto the field.  The damage Kaepernick has done to the NFL and the divide among fans is extensive.

From a Mother’s Perspective, Colin Kaepernick crossed a line when he knelt during the National Anthem while he was “on the clock” for the 49ers.  If he had an issue to support, it should have been done off the field and on his own personal time, not at the expense of football fans everywhere.  Police officers, military personnel, and many citizens took offense at his kneeling and look at it as being disrespectful to the United States Flag, to the men and women who put their lives on the line for all of us every day – police, veterans and military alike.

But it also had another effect in my opinion, it showed our children that being disrespectful is ok.  It said to our youth who look upon sports figures as heroes that bringing personal opinion and having little concern for others is acceptable.  It said that team is not as important as “my needs” and “my opinion”.

As I was raising my children I always taught them that there is no “I” in team and that you always supported your team, you always worked with the team, and that you were a part of a “TEAM” ….

Colin Kaepernick, who is no hero of anything in my book, showed the world that he doesn’t care about the team……….he showed us that “I” always comes first.

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