Greg Chambers
MC Practicum
To be black and educated was once thought of as being prized stock. But to be young, black, educated, and athletically gifted is like being a gold mine waiting to be discovered.
Athletes have been given the golden ticket, so to speak, to life. If they are not doing anything to damaging to the NFL brand and are not a distraction from what is happening on the field. The moment an athlete decides to voice his/her opinion about the happenings of the real world, they become a distraction. At least this is the case with Colin Kaepernick.
The NFL has officially blackballed Kaepernick for standing, well kneeling, for the rights of African-Americans and other minorities.
Kaepernick has not given an official statement on the fact that teams have neglected to pick him up, for now. This would be understandable if Kaepernick was a walk-on quarterback but he was the backup quarterback and even served time as the starting quarterback.
One side of the argument says that Kaepernick’s actions are a distraction to the team, even if his actions only last as long as the National Anthem. The other side looks at his performance. Kaepernick is a quality quarterback, which is essential for every team.
Kaepernick is what the media would call an all-purpose public figure, which by definition means he is given a platform to speak on issues that he feels are important. The NFL has stood by athletes who have done worse than Kaepernick.
Stephen Diew, a senior biology/pre-med major from Yazoo, Miss., believes Kaepernick is being treated unfairly.
“Kaepernick shouldn’t be punished for his actions because if America is truly great and respects the principles that it was founded upon, then it would allow its citizens to stand up for their beliefs. It is a disgrace that the very country who fought for the freedoms and rights that we have today is the very same country whose citizens are being punished for exercising that freedom. It seems that freedom and rights are only upheld when it is approved by the majority,” said Diew.
Kaepernick is a 29-year-old quarterback who has led a team to the Super Bowl. Although they did not win, it showed progress for a second-string quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl. It is understandable for a free agent to not be picked up right away, but here you have a fairly young quarterback who in his career has completed 196 passes, fumbled nine times, and has only thrown four interceptions.
Jevon Floyd. a junior interdisciplinary studies major from Gulfport, Miss., believes Kaepernick does bring too many distractions to the game of football.
“It is going to be hard for him to find a job because teams in the NFL don’t look at him as a starting quarterback. To be a backup quarterback there can be no distractions surrounding you and that’s exactly what he is,” said Floyd.
Vincent Sampson, a freshmen civil engineering major from Alexandria, La., believes that Kaepernick is getting a bad rap for standing up for his beliefs.
“People think his actions are disrespectful because he is not standing up for the National Anthem, but what is disrespectful is the ones who are not standing up to bring attention to what is going on in the nation,” said Sampson.
However you stand on this issue, Kaepernick won’t be standing or kneeling for anyone’s team unless someone is brave enough to choose talent over his personal beliefs.
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