Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick said on a podcast recently that he continues to have a desire to play in the NFL. He made the comments on the I Am Athlete podcast with former NFL players Pacman Jones, Brandon Marshall, and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. Kaepernick stated that he had been vigorously working out with hopes of returning to the sports league he previously likened to a slave auction.
“Five years of training behind the scenes,” Kaepernick said. “You don’t do that if you don’t have a passion, and you don’t believe you’re gonna find a way on that field.”
That’s a lot of time and effort just to return to a system of bondage and oppression, no? That is, after all, the exact comparison Kaepernick made regarding the NFL.
In his Netflix special, Colin in Black & White, Kaepernick criticized the professional football league as demeaning to black athletes. He took particular aim at the NFL’s draft combine, the forum where teams evaluate collegiate athlete prospects looking to turn pro. “What they don’t want you to understand is what’s being established is a power dynamic,” he said. “Before they put you on the field, teams poke, prod, and examine you. Searching for any defect that might affect your performance. No boundary respected. No dignity left intact.”
Of course, what Kaepernick leaves out in this propaganda is that this very same process happens to white athletes as well, along with black coaches, scouts, and other professional football personnel making the evaluations. But that part didn’t fit Kaepernick’s inflammatory and fallacious narrative.
In any event, if things were really as bad as Kaepernick claimed, why would he want to return to the league? He accumulated millions during his football career. He earned millions more by being a brand ambassador for Nike and as a social justice advocate. If he loves playing the sport, there are other leagues Kaepernick could join, such as the new United States Football League, which debuted this past weekend.
But he doesn’t want that. He wants to return to the NFL. Clearly, this shows that Kaepernick was not truthful with these comments. He said them for the publicity and the relevance he craves. He said them to get people to watch the Netflix special where he originally said these comments. This is further evident by his comments from the podcast Monday, in which he now used a different word to describe the NFL.
“The NFL is supposed to be a meritocracy. Come in, let me compete. If I’m not good enough, get rid of me,” Kaepernick said on the podcast. “But let me come in and show you.”
So wait, which is it? A slave plantation or a meritocracy? It can’t be both.
