Division caused by anthem protests

It’s Week 2 in the National Football League (NFL), as of Sept. 17. In past seasons, there have been numerous protests by NFL players during the national anthem, but the most famous protester, Colin Kaepernick, hasn’t protested this year. This isn’t because of a change of opinion, though, it’s because the former starting quarterback is still unemployed.

Kaepernick’s unemployment has raised questions as to whether he is being blackballed by the league. In this case, “blackballing” refers to the act of voting to secretly exclude someone from a group.

The answer to this question of whether Kaepernick is bering purposefully excluded is that he almost certainly is. In the past, Kaepernick has led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance, with a record of 4-2 in the playoffs. There are multiple starting quarterbacks that don’t have even one win in the playoffs. Last season, Kaepernick had a touchdown to interception ratio of 4.0, with 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
He also had a better quarterback rating than half of this season’s backup quarterbacks, a rating which does not include numbers that pad his stats because of playing in garbage time, or time when the defense holds back because they’ve already won.

Critics may note that the 49ers won only one game under Kaepernick last year, but that is largely the fault of former head coach Chip Kelly, whose new position as an ESPN commentator speaks to his ability to lead a team.

Kaepernick began kneeling in September 2016, saying that he would not “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” adding that “there are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” This statement referred to the recent examples of police brutality in America. In 2015, 986 people were shot and killed by police, according to The Washington Post’s article “Final Tally: Police shot and killed 986 people in 2015” published on Jan. 6, 2016. In comparison, no officers were convicted.

In July 2016, Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer, and before that, racial profiling had led to his car being stopped 46 times by police. Only six of the 46 times were for infractions that could be noticeable from outside of the car. The cop that shot Castile was similarly not convicted.

Current Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett recently experienced this oppression first-hand. According to a statement he released on Twitter, a gun was put to his head and he was ordered to the ground when gunshots rang out in Las Vegas after the McGregor-Mayweather fight.

So why blackball Kaepernick? It could very well be the ratings. NFL ratings were down nine percent for the entire year last year and 26 percent of 9,200 respondents in a survey by J.D. Power said the protests were why they tuned out. On a large scale, a nine percent drop in ratings could cost the NFL millions of dollars.

The anthem protests are viewed as disrespectful to the flag and the armed forces by many NFL fans. The protests are also seen as divisive and anger many in the nation who view them as an ineffective method to enact change. Many find it difficult to see past their anger and instead acknowledge the true purpose behind the kneeling.

Observers also cite that Kaepernick did not vote in the election back in 2016, completely ignoring the fact that he is not the only player who is protesting; the NFL has a coalition of players who lobby Congress for criminal justice reform and for police accountability.

From a purely football standpoint, the blackballing may just be a result from the amount of eyes on the issue. The anthem protests are a top story in football and will likely be one for as long as police brutality continues in America.

At the end of the day, NFL team owners must ask themselves if it’s worth it for their team to have a quarterback who draws in the attention Kaepernick does. Seeing that owners had no qualms hiring alleged dog fighters, rapists and domestic abusers before, the answer should be easy: yes, it is worth it. Kaepernick’s skill and previous record should allow him to have a job in the NFL, but we will just have to wait and see whether any NFL owners decide to end their blackballing when it looks like their season could end without a competent quarterback.