The San Francisco 49ers play their final preseason game Thursday, September 1, and I doubt quarterback Colin Kaepernick will be on the team 24 hours later.
Head coach Chip Kelly will announce that it’s a “football decision” and has nothing to do with Kaepernick refusing to stand during the national anthem. I guarantee you Kaepernick will be history if he does not stand during the Star Spangled Banner before Thursday’s game.
Kaepernick took a seat before last week’s game against Green Bay. Most of the world didn’t realize what he had done, until he said after the game, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. 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.”
Had he simply made that statement, a firestorm of controversy would not have followed, but there would have been negative reaction. He would also have a future in the NFL. I think his playing days are over.
The groundwork for his departure from the 49ers, and most likely the NFL, has already started. It is based on his injuries, his preseason play and his weight loss.
“Regardless of politics or not, he has a very, very big uphill battle to make this team. I’d be shocked if he’s on the 49ers by the time this season ends. It has nothing to do with political views whatsoever,” writes Jay Glazer of FOX Sports.
“He lost a ton of weight this offseason, had three surgeries, couldn’t work out, lost that double threat, that size-speed ratio. No political views, he just hasn’t been effective. He’s regressing as a player. I’d be shocked if he’s on this roster by the end of this year. He may not be on it in the next two weeks.”
Peter King of Sports Illustrated jumped on the bandwagon by writing, “Kaepernick is 10-14 with a pedestrian 83.7 rating in the past two years, and he appears to have lost significant weight – he’d be the thinnest starting quarterback in football, for what that’s worth. … Kaepernick may make [the team], but it would have to be on faith, because he’s shown Kelly little this summer.”
If Kaepernick is cut, a possible landing place would have been Dallas, where yet another injury to Tony Romo has left that team in a quarterback predicament.
The Cowboys could use a veteran to back up rookie Dak Prescott, but it sure as heck isn’t going to be Kaepernick. No other NFL team is going to rush to sign him.
I support Kaepernick’s right to sit during the anthem. Thousands of fans are milling around stadium concourses while talking, drinking and having a grand old time while the national anthem is playing – and they know it. It has always seemed disrespectful to me.
As for not standing, I wouldn’t do it. I think acts such as that and burning or desecrating flags are more centered in pissing people off than actually bringing attention to a cause.
No law is being broken when you burn a flag, and Kaepernick’s action is not in violation of any NFL statute. On Sunday, the NFL stated, “While it encourages players and coaches to stand, it is not a league rule.”
Here’s my advice to Kaepernick: America is not your enemy. The actions of too many Americans are what should be targeted by protests and acts of civil disobedience. There is a difference.
Kaepernick’s protest and the resulting fallout is much to do about nothing, but in these heated times it will likely cost him his high-paying job.
As New Orleans Saints coach Sean Peyton said Monday, “Honestly, we have a lot more important things that we’re working on right here in our building.” I agree. But the media has a story, the haters of all things black have a new reason to hate, and some Kaepernick supporters will make him a martyr.
Kaepernick will look back and ask himself, “Was it worth it?” He’s going to have a lot of free time to think about his answer.
Curry, Gaither both legends
When I met the late George Curry in 1977 he was just about to celebrate the publishing of his first book, “Jake Gaither: America’s Most Famous Black Coach.”
I’m not afraid to admit I had never heard of the guy. I read the book, and I learned I needed to know more about black college football players and coaches.
Sure, I had heard of Eddie Robinson and Grambling, and was well aware of the impact players from black colleges were having in the NFL. But I had no idea of Gaither’s contribution to ALL of college football.
Gaither was Florida A&M head coach from 1945-1969, compiling an impressive 204-36-4 record. He would coach 36 All-Americans, and 42 of his players reached the NFL.
During his tenure, Florida A&M won 22 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and his team was voted as Black College National Champions in 1950, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1959 and 1961.
When coaching clinics were a new thing in the 1950s, Gaither began one and brought in Paul “Bear” Bryant, Frank Broyles, Darrell Royal, Woody Hayes and other legendary coaches to staff them.
He is credited with creating the “Split-T formation” in 1963 and, in 1969, his Rattlers defeated the University of Tampa 34-28 in the South’s first football game between a white and predominantly black college.
He received the Walter Camp Football Foundation Man of the Year award in 1974 and was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975. He also received the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award that year, and was the first black coach to win these accolades.
Gaither died in 1994 in Tallahassee, Fla., but his impact on his craft, like Curry’s, will continue to live on for generations.
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is @aareid1.
