The sports media has been Colin Kaepernick's biggest supporter, largely praising his protest of police brutality last year and arguing he's a better quarterback than many of the career backups signed during the 2017 offseason.
But now that it appears the 29-year-old quarterback is being blackballed by NFL owners, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith thinks those same media cheerleaders should take some responsibility for Kaepernick's unemployment status.
Any NFL team that even thinks about signing Kaepernick, such as the Ravens, gets pounded by fans who were insulted by his protest of the U.S. flag/national anthem last season. Despite his vow not to protest again in 2017, Kaepernick is still looking for a job. So Smith asked Monday on "First Take": Where are Kaepernick's supporters now?
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"All of those people that were, 'Go ahead Colin Kaepernick, we're proud of you,' Smith said, "Where are you now? Do you pay his bills? Do you employ him? Are you going to make up for the $12 million he missed out on?
"So when you sit up, and you’re going, ‘Bravo, Bravo, Colin Kaepernick,' where is it going to get you?"
Yes, many in sports media (including myself) admire Kaepernick for putting his career on the line for his personal beliefs. But did ESPN, Time and other media boosters underestimate the anger and resentment of #BoycottNFL fans who saw Kaepernick's protest as un-American and insulting to police and the military?
Will Smith's own cost-cutting ESPN hire Kaepernick if his NFL career is over? The network can't get get enough of the Kaepernick story — it led Monday's noon "SportsCenter with his job prospects.
"They don't want to deal with him. They don't know how to deal with him."
— First Take (@FirstTake) July 31, 2017
—@LRiddickESPN on NFL teams not signing Colin Kaepernick pic.twitter.com/PdvZaRDocY
Things aren't looking great for Kaepernick's NFL job prospects, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, even though the Ravens expressed interest after an injury to starting QB Joe Flacco.
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But any team that considers Kaepernick has to weigh his contribution on the playing field vs. the potential loss of fans and sponsors.
Via PFT:
If recent comments by Ravens coach John Harbaugh regarding the potential signing of quarterback Colin Kaepernick were meant to be a trial balloon, it apparently is made of lead. Mike Silver of NFL Media reports that the Ravens “have heard from numerous fans regarding Kaepernick in the last couple of days, many staunchly opposed to his signing.” It’s hardly a surprise, given that Giants co-owner John Mara already has provided all anti-Kaepernick fans with the blueprint for shouting down a potential Kaepernick signing.
“All my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue,” Mara said in May. “If any of your players ever do that, we are never coming to another Giants game. It wasn’t one or two letters. It was a lot. It’s an emotional, emotional issue for a lot of people, moreso than any other issue I’ve run into.”
It’s impossible to know whether the fans from whom the Ravens have heard are only Ravens fans, or whether they are fans of other teams who simply want to see Kaepernick remain unemployed. Regardless, it’s no surprise that those who don’t want to see Kaepernick on an NFL team are trying to block it from happening at a time when it appears that it could.
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Smith's sparring partner Max Kellerman, a fierce supporter of Kaepernick's First Amendment rights, complained it's not fair to Kaepernick. And he's right.
But it's all about money and business, NFL insider Louis Riddick, pointed out.
"They don't want to deal with him," Riddick explained. "They don't know how to deal with him."
