Latest / The Facts with Jamal ๐บ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ / #ColinKaepernick: Blackballed Victim or Self Absorbed Asshole? 10 years later.
Transcript
- 0:01So there's been plenty of instances of, you know,
- 0:06athletes, even washed up celebrities making pointless
- 0:13claims and or stances about a whole bunch of things that in
- 0:18all honesty, nobody really gets a shit about.
- 0:23And quite frankly, many of those people are just better off doing
- 0:28what they are supposed to do and just keep it moving.
- 0:36But, and if you can actually believe this, for one former NFL
- 0:44quarterback over a decade later who still feels as if he's been
- 0:51blacklisted by the NFL for a publicy stunt that he says cost
- 0:58him whatever his career would have been moving forward, he
- 1:04still feels as if he's the victim in all this.
- 1:08I am going to talk about how A1 year one direct quarterback
- 1:15essentially made the choice of his own doing and cost himself
- 1:22his own career. So you may have heard of the
- 1:27name calling Kaepernick, right? He is the subject of this
- 1:35episode and work. I can't even say it's surprising
- 1:42that it's been more than a decade since that Jackass of his
- 1:46own doing cost himself whatever would have been at least a good
- 1:53NFL career. But because of one decision of
- 1:59his own choosing and making, he only has himself to blame.
- 2:06Let's just do a quick overview, shall we?
- 2:11Now, I'm not going to lie to you.
- 2:13When he came out of the NFL draft in 2011 from Nevada, I
- 2:19didn't really see him play. I didn't really read anything
- 2:23about him as far as, you know, scaling reports and what's
- 2:27upside Kirby. But apparently San Francisco and
- 2:32Jim Harbaugh, who was the coach there at the time, saw something
- 2:38in him. So he was a second round pick
- 2:41and spent most of his rookie season or all of it, I should
- 2:44say, behind Fetcher and Alex Smith.
- 2:48It wasn't until, you know, late in the 2012 season when the
- 2:5249ers wanted to see what Kaepernick can do.
- 2:57So he eventually Youssef Smith as the starter, actually went on
- 3:02a great playoff run and LED the 49ers to the Super Bowl in New
- 3:10Orleans where they came up just a bit short against my Ravens.
- 3:17The following year, Kaepernick was named a full time starter,
- 3:22Smith had been traded to Kansas City, and once again the 49ers
- 3:29who made it to the NFC title game.
- 3:33Only this time there would be no return trip to the Super Bowl
- 3:37because the Legion of Boone, notably Richard Sherman, had the
- 3:45final say in the 49ers chances of getting back to the big game.
- 3:52And it was really either before that season or even after the
- 3:5749ers fell as an organization that Kaepernick was going to be
- 4:01the future. So they gave him an extension,
- 4:06signaling that he was going to be among the next crop of
- 4:09quarterbacks at that point that was going to take the lead by
- 4:13storm. Now, mind you, the guy had the
- 4:18world at the palm of his hand. He was a rising quarterback.
- 4:22He was a star in the Super Bowl, and it seemed like the future
- 4:26looked promising for him until everything came apart the
- 4:37following year. After making it to the third
- 4:39straight NFC title game, the aging corps the following Niners
- 4:44have finally caught up with them.
- 4:46They stumbled the next year and ended up missing the playoffs.
- 4:51Now certainly having the aging corps of players didn't help
- 4:54maths, and neither did the continued turmoil between Jim
- 5:01Harbaugh and ownership. Jim Harbaugh after that
- 5:10particular season, left to go take the head coaching job as
- 5:15all model in Michigan. And really, that started until
- 5:20the Kyle Shanahan era. A brief decline in 49ers
- 5:26football. And in an ironic sense, so did
- 5:34the once promising quarterback that the franchise I had high
- 5:38hopes for. Look, from 2014 to 15,
- 5:44Kaepernick's play severely regressed.
- 5:47He was never able to really recapture the form that from
- 5:51really that one year in particular that made it look
- 5:55like he had the potential will be great.
- 6:01And then at a certain point, Chip Kelly, who was the coach of
- 6:07the 49ers at that time after being fired from Philadelphia,
- 6:14he essentially did not believe Kaepernick was capable of doing
- 6:18the job. So Kelly Benson, and in a lot of
- 6:25ways, you would probably look at that as well, you know, an ego
- 6:31taking a hit and probably deservingly so.
- 6:35Anybody would have been pissed at that point, right?
- 6:40But here's where ultimately things turned from a bitter
- 6:47athlete to a century of publicity stunt that started the
- 6:53well deserved downfall of a once promising quarterback.
- 7:01In the immediate aftermath of being benched, Kaepernick on one
- 7:06particular day decided that he was going to essentially voices,
- 7:12quote, UN quote frustration along with another teammate
- 7:17whose name in all honesty, has escaped me.
- 7:21But actually, that should be a good thing for him 'cause nobody
- 7:25really focuses on him. They only focus on the
- 7:28centerpiece. When the national anthem was
- 7:32about to be played during one home game in San Francisco,
- 7:37Kaepernick and his teammate took a knee, took a knee on one leg
- 7:45as a sign to protest against police officers and quote,
- 7:52everywhere and quote UN quote. Police would tell that right
- 8:01there essentially started the chain offense of these never
- 8:07ending ridiculous protests that spanned, you could pretty much
- 8:14say over 8 years. But Kaepernick, in my
- 8:18estimation, that was just at the forefront.
- 8:22The first of it at first, you know, when I saw it on, I
- 8:29believe it was Sports Center. You know, at one point I
- 8:33couldn't believe it. I actually thought it was just
- 8:37some sort of gagging place, but no, he and along with his
- 8:43teammate, took a knee while the national anthem of the United
- 8:50States was playing, and that essentially stunned that reply.
- 8:57And then, like with all things, the immediate backlash came down
- 9:03like a ton of bricks. Kaepernick was criticized after
- 9:09this stunt. The 49ers essentially had APR
- 9:14situation to deal with and of course the National Football
- 9:19League wanted to see at that point what was going to be the
- 9:23supposed internal. And by that I mean with the
- 9:2749ers have actually handled it. But then it's a scene like after
- 9:33that that I had mentioned before, the never ending
- 9:37protests that you saw around the league took place after that.
- 9:43So if you want to blame an instance, one person for all
- 9:47that, look forward to the Jackass who had an afore at one
- 9:53point and probably still does. And of course, you know, me
- 9:59being, you know, a son of a long line of family members who were
- 10:07either law enforcement officers or a few that are still doing it
- 10:11right now, I found it disrespectful honesty that it
- 10:15was essentially the proverbial middle finger to officers who
- 10:22put their lives on the line to make sure everyone else is OK.
- 10:28And look, are there a few bad officers?
- 10:30Of course, I'm not going to deny that.
- 10:33But essentially, the poll, that kind of childless act while the
- 10:37national anthem is playing, this is disrespect.
- 10:42And here comes the part where any promise that Kaepernick had
- 10:47as far as trying to, you know, maybe recapture what was a
- 10:54promising career at one point immediately went away, not
- 11:03surprisingly. And, you know, after, I guess me
- 11:07insert into the stars position and never be able to recapture
- 11:11his form. Kaepernick was let go by the
- 11:1349ers soon after, and that was it.
- 11:18I mean, sure, you may have heard of him doing some private
- 11:23workouts to the side with the hope that a team will at least
- 11:27bring your mom for training camp or, you know, in a practice
- 11:30squad nobody can call. And you know, it was about close
- 11:39to, I want to say not recently. Of course, we made that bogus,
- 11:45you know, statement, which I'll get into a little later.
- 11:48But it was probably around 4 years ago that, you know, that
- 11:56he was, he says something along the lines that he was still
- 12:00training and competing, that he was hoping to get another
- 12:04opportunity, that some team would come calling for at least
- 12:07a train campaign. But the bottom line is no team,
- 12:13not even the team he played, ever called.
- 12:17And I'm not gonna lie, if I were an owner or AGM, he would
- 12:21definitely be the last person I would even consider picking up
- 12:27that phone because it was a century.
- 12:30In a way, the NFL is where they come in.
- 12:35It was the NFL essentially not wanting to do with what many
- 12:40deemed to be a head case, a spoiled, ungrateful athlete and
- 12:49in a lot of ways, a cancer. Now, whether or not those words
- 12:54or terms were fitting for him at that point, it's anybody's
- 12:59guess, particularly that last word, but what have you.
- 13:05The bottom line is, and rightfully so, you know, the NFL
- 13:10just simply did not want anything to do with Kaepernick.
- 13:16And so he can call it being blacklisted, blackballed,
- 13:22whatever word helps him not sleep at night.
- 13:26The bottom line is all because he got benched in the middle of
- 13:31the season for not playing well. He decided to pull the most
- 13:36disgraceful act you can argue in modern history and he ended up
- 13:43suffering A consequence for it. So if you go back to recently
- 13:50when he said we had sat down an interviewer while back, he had
- 13:56talked about how even 10 years later today, he had talked
- 14:04about, you know, how he still feels as if he's been the victim
- 14:09and how he has been wronged in all of this by centuries,
- 14:13saying, quote, it's been 10 years and I'm still preparing as
- 14:18if I would get another opportunity.
- 14:21I feel like I've been castized in a long way simply for what I
- 14:27believed in. But he still feels as if he's
- 14:31been the victim in the situation that he chose to participate in
- 14:37of his own accord. Let me explain something to him
- 14:42and to anybody that supports Kaepernick.
- 14:46If you're the aforementioned person, you're Jackass.
- 14:51And if you vouch for him at one point, congratulations, you're
- 14:55goddamnit. The bottom line is, nobody
- 15:00forced a weapon to Kaepernick and forced him to do what he
- 15:05did. That was his own doing.
- 15:08Nobody forced him to essentially spit in the face of many law
- 15:13enforcement officers just because he was a spoiled athlete
- 15:18who was at the top of the food chain one day and in the next
- 15:21moment it all came crashing down like a mountain.
- 15:32So this idea, he has been essentially blackballed by the
- 15:36league, It's it's ludicrous. Like, are you really that tone
- 15:42deaf or not really fully understanding why you did this
- 15:48to yourself? And no team, rightfully so, ever
- 15:51called you for at least a workout.
- 15:55And look, This is why ultimately I have a huge issue with many
- 16:02people like him who always believed they have done wrong,
- 16:06even when they know they have been the main reason why take
- 16:12ownership for what you did. Like, if you really believe that
- 16:16it's everybody else's fault because you chose to kneel
- 16:20during the astral anthem, then to me and you subsequently got
- 16:27blackballed from the NFL because of it, you don't deserve any
- 16:32sympathy because you feel as if you've been paint it as the
- 16:37villain. The bottom line is, and I
- 16:40actually hope this happens. And look, I know it's been 10
- 16:45years, but just bear with me. I hope that not only does Colin
- 16:50Kaepernick never see the NFL again, you know, as a player,
- 16:55even though I don't think that'll happen or even that's
- 16:58like a coach, scout or kind of like I say, speaker to kind of
- 17:05tell younger players don't do what I did.
- 17:08I hope he never sees the NFL ever again 'cause why the hell
- 17:12would they even want him back? Wait, maybe he should do is
- 17:17apologize for a century being a spoiled, arrogant asshole that
- 17:24spat in the face of millions of law enforcement officers alive
- 17:29or deceased for that stunt he pulled 10 years ago.
- 17:35So in the end, if you expect me to have sympathy for Kaepernick
- 17:39because he made this decision of his own accord and ended up
- 17:43paying the price for it, well, you know what?
- 17:47Go ask somebody else for it because you're not going to get
- 17:51it from this guy. He made the choice that he made
- 17:54that day. Now, 10 years later, he is now
- 17:58finally starting to realize I fucked up my own career because
- 18:04I couldn't handle a little humidity and look at how that
- 18:09has worked out.