FAB 4. Kaepernick Won’t Be Sought After By The Bucs – Or Any NFL Team

Depending on your point of view, former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick either isn’t a good quarterback – not starting-caliber and too controversial to be a backup – or he legitimately got blackballed by the league for his decision to kneel for the National Anthem, which appears to have upset at least half of this country.

Depending on your point of view, Kaepernick either was wise to use his protesting of the National Anthem to raise awareness about social justice issues like police brutality, or he went about his protest the wrong way, alienating a good deal of the NFL audience by disrespecting the American flag.

Former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick – Photo by: Getty Images

I’m not here to debate those points. People’s minds are made up and I’m not here to convince anybody of anything about the kneeling controversy. I’ll try to leave political points views out of this one by sticking to football.

What I am here to say is that the 32-year old Kaepernick blew his last chance at playing in the league on Saturday by abruptly moving his NFL-scheduled workout and the media circus that erupted around his workout and the aftermath. Applaud Kaepernick all you want for sticking to his guns as someone who doesn’t comprise his beliefs, which is commendable, but did it help ultimately help his cause about getting back into the NFL?

Nope.

I don’t think wearing a Kunta Kinte shirt didn’t help, either. ESPN talk show host Stephen A. Smith agreed.

“You showed up in a Kunta Kinte shirt,” Smith said in reference the slavery novel “Roots” and its famous character, as quoted by the Washington Times. “That’s what you did for owners you want to play for. Now, whether you like it or not, the bottom line is there are owners in the league with the ability to employ you. When you want a job, these are not things that you do. Because when you do them, chances are an employer is not going to employ you.”

The NFL is all about teamwork – not so much about individuality.

Former NFL QB Colin Kaepernick – Photo by: Getty Images

I get it. Kaepernick had a beef with the NFL, sued the league over being blackballed and was awarded millions of dollars in a settlement as a result. Good for him.

But if he truly wanted to play in the NFL again, why not just play “the game?” Why not show up in a shirt with an NFL shield on it instead to show the league you want to be back on a team – even if you know inside it’s just a song a dance of appeasement? Why not try to trick the owners that way? There’s some justice and payback in that covert action.

Then if Kaepernick got signed after his workout, he could decide for himself to stick to football if he wanted to and toe the company line, or once again use his status as a high-profile NFL player to speak his mind about social and political issues even if it causes controvery. And if Kaepernick got cut over his views imagine the firestorm, potential backlash and the media coverage then? Kaepernick would likely reach martyr status – if he hasn’t already to some.

Instead, Kaepernick shifted the workout location from the NFL’s arrangement at the Falcons facility to a high school stadium a half hour before the scheduled time, and only eight of the 20-plus teams ended up attending as a result. The Buccaneers were not one of those teams. That stunt – justified or not – ended any slim hope he had of joining an NFL team because that move simply wasn’t team-oriented.

Keep in mind, that no team has worked Kaepernick out or brought him in for a visit since he last played in 2016. There just hasn’t been any interest. If the league thought Kaepernick was truly a starting-caliber player, I think a team would have at least worked him out by now because the NFL is all about winning – and even about second chances.

Michael Vick, the former No. 1 overall pick by Atlanta in 2001, was a damn good quarterback – better than Kaepernick – and he was given a second chance and sought after by NFL teams after a two-year suspension along with jail time for dog-fighting. Vick won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award and was named a Pro Bowler in 2010 after a great season Philadelphia.

Kaepernick was given one final chance to showcase his skills and change the league’s mind, but decided that a change of venue was more important because he didn’t like the league’s waiver, or who the league was going to let into the workout, or who could tape the workout – or whatever.

Only a few NFL scouts attended Colin Kaepernick’s workout – Photo by: Getty Images

ProFootballTalk.com’s Peter King, whose politics align with Kaepernick’s, and who has been more of a champion than a critic of the former quarterback over the years, had this to say on Monday:

“That wasn’t good enough, in the end. Kaepernick had a problem with the waiver he’d have to sign. (I’m told this waiver is essentially the same one a tryout wide receiver, say, would have to sign to work out for a team during the season.) He didn’t trust the NFL to send the complete videotape to the teams. He didn’t trust that the NFL motives were pure—inviting scouts to see him work out when the league never does it for anyone else. One … excuse … after … another. Does someone dying for a tryout place all these obstacles in front of him at age 32, and then cancel the NFL workout and move the workout to a high-school field 60 miles away, while his last chances to play in the NFL fade away more and more by the day? If that were me, and I were dying to get back into the NFL, I’d show up and show those NFL scouts how wrong they and their organizations have been—whether this was a real tryout or something that allowed the NFL to say it tried.”

King went on to say that he spoke with an NFL source who listed Tampa Bay as a possible landing spot for Kaepernick, which made some news on Monday:

“One person I spoke with said he thinks three coaches would fit with Kaepernick: Frank Reich of the Colts (nothing bothers him, and he’s a good teacher), the Chiefs’ Andy Reid (signed Michael Vick out of Leavenworth, doesn’t care about fires outside his door), and Bruce Arians/Byron Leftwich in Tampa (good teachers, tough-love guys). This person stressed to me how important it was that Kaepernick go to a place that would allow him to focus on football and learn football and get back into a football regimen after three or so years away. The most interesting thing in this regard is the person wondering how long it had been since Kaepernick was hit. By the time he signs, if he does, would it be 40 months since he played the game of football?”

Former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick – Photo by: Getty Images

I’m also here to say that Kaepernick certainly won’t be a Buccaneer – despite what the future may hold for Jameis Winston.

While Arians might be sympathetic to some of Kaepernick’s beliefs and causes and possibly look past some of the distraction he could bring to the Bucs, the Glazers would likely nix any desire he might have of wanting to sign the controversial former quarterback – and with justification. Tampa is a military town with MacDill Air Force Base and U.S. Central Command only eight miles away from Raymond James Stadium. When the Bucs’ popular Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans took a knee twice – once in 2016 and once in 2017 – he apologized for doing it each time for that reason. He upset a lot of people in Tampa and Evans hasn’t kneeled since.

Aside from the kneeling controversy, no NFL team wants its backup quarterback to draw headlines. That’s one of the reasons why Tim Tebow didn’t last long in the league as a backup once he proved he wasn’t a starting-caliber QB. He has immense popularity and was outspoken on certain social issues that could have been distracting attention away from the team.

The same issue concerns NFL teams with Kaepernick in a backup role. What if his new team goes on a three-game winning streak, yet his comments or opinions on a social justice or political topic might dominate the news cycle and take away from the team’s success – even if Kaepernick was being a model teammate? Teams just don’t want their backup QB to be a distraction.

Case in point, ProFootballTalk.com alone had 18 posts on Kaepernick’s controversial workout from November 15-19. Eighteen – all about a workout. That’s almost four posts per day from just one media outlet – and that surely would be a sign of things to come. The only other player that got that much exposure on PFT during that span was Cleveland’s suspended defensive end Myles Garrett – for obvious reasons.

Former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick – Photo by: Getty Images

It doesn’t help Kaepernick’s cause that the 2020 Presidential elections are coming up within the next year. All it would take would be for one local or national reporter to ask Kaepernick about his thoughts on Donald Trump’s chances of getting re-elected for a second term for it to go viral and make national news and thought would drown out any of his team’s accomplishments in the news cycle. That’s just the current media environment.

And it likely get a few tweeted retorts from the Tweeter-In-Chief.

And cause a headache for the NFL team he’s on.

No head coach wants that – certainly in 2020. Every NFL team wants to be free from that kind of potential distraction.

Kaepernick doesn’t want to change, and that’s okay. It’s his life and he’s free to make that choice and stick to his beliefs, be outspoken and do whatever.

Yet don’t feel too sorry for Kaepernick despite his NFL career officially being over by blowing it with the distraction he caused by abruptly moving his workout last week. At least he has already made millions of dollars from the league as a player, made millions of dollars from the league in his settlement with the NFL, and he’s currently making millions of dollars from Nike as a social justice warrior.