CelticsStrong
Other Discussions => Other / General Sports => Patriots / Football => Topic started by: slightly biased bias fan on October 15, 2017, 09:47:31 PM
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Colin Kaepernick is filing a grievance suit under the collective bargaining agreement and has hired lawyer Mark Geragos, according to Bleacher Report, a lawyer who has represented high-profile clients such as Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder and NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield. An ABC report said the grievance claims owners “colluded to deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment rights in retaliation for Mr. Kaepernick’s leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice.”
Giants co-owner John Mara said he got a flood of letters this off-season from fans pleading him to stay away from Kaepernick, though he denied the one-time rising star was being blackballed. “Anybody that thinks that there’s been any conversations going on among teams about Colin Kaepernick is crazy,” Mara said on ESPN Radio in August. “That just is not the case. I saw a quote, I think it was (Dolphins owner) Steve Ross recently that said, ‘Teams want to win so badly that if they believe a player can help them win, they’re going to bring him on.’ I think there are certain issues obviously that go along with Colin Kaepernick and that may have scared some teams away, but there is absolutely no blackball going on here. I just don’t see that at all.”At the time, Mara thought Kaepernick would find a job.
It’s Week 6, and the player who brought San Francisco to the Super Bowl in 2013 is still unsigned, even as many quarterbacks have gone down. But commissioner Roger Goodell has denied the league has conspired against signing Kaepernick.“I believe that if a football team feels that Colin Kaepernick, or any other player, is going to improve that team, they’re going to do it,” he said in June. Kaepernick has completed nearly 60 percent of his career NFL passes for 12,271 yards and 72 touchdowns with 30 interceptions over 69 NFL games.
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With Rodgers out for the year, if Packers are serious about clinching a playoff spot, they should sign Kap. He even grew up a Packers fan I believe.
As for this case though, it will be hard to prove Kap's point. But I do agree he's being "blackballed". It's honestly hard to argue against that. When guys like Weeden and Cutler (for $10M???) are getting signed quickly while no one considers Kap... I mean is it really hard not to see it?
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With Rodgers out for the year, if Packers are serious about clinching a playoff spot, they should sign Kap. He even grew up a Packers fan I believe.
As for this case though, it will be hard to prove Kap's point. But I do agree he's being "blackballed". It's honestly hard to argue against that. When guys like Weeden and Cutler (for $10M???) are getting signed quickly while no one considers Kap... I mean is it really hard not to see it?
That's karma for breaking up with Olivia Munn, lol :laugh:.
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I want to post a gif of Ruxin screaming collusion, but I’m not tech savvy enough.
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I'm no lawyer—I didn't even sleep at a Holiday Inn last night—but it seems to me that collusion is very difficult to prove in a court of law.
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Kap opted out of his contract. What a joke. Publicity stunt for the for-profit racism industry
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Kap opted out of his contract. What a joke. Publicity stunt for the for-profit racism industry
I originally thought that too but if you've noticed he hasn't done a single interview this whole period. Usually if you are out for money you would be doing the media circuit, I have also heard that Kap gives a lot to charities and works within poor communities.
Like someone earlier stated, collusion is very hard to prove but it is quite obvious that the NFL owners (and most likely Goodell) have made a pact not to sign Kaepernick because of his polarising protests. Multiple less qualified QB's have been signed and traded for and Kaepernick hasn't even been asked to any training camps or workouts. When Colts knew Luck would be out for the first several weeks of the season and would rather put in their abysmal back ups and then trade for Pats third string QB Brissett...I personally knew the fix was in.
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Insanity.
Maybe it's something to do with his the cliff his ability has fallen off
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I don’t think he’ll win in a court of law, but you’re blind if you don’t think that his political stance is the reason why he’s unsigned. That is illegal, it will just be very difficult to prove.
The only reason other than the fact that owners are unwilling to sign him because of his protests and views would be that he’s unwilling to take a backup job and the minimum salary. But from what I’ve heard, he’s not demanding a starting job or a big salary. He’s clearly good enough to be a backup or 3rd stringer in this league, owners are just refusing to sign him based on his beliefs and protests that he has made.
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Everyone knows that Collin Kapernick does not have a job because of his political stance. I think that that is clear and obvious. That being said I do not see any way that he wins this grievance and I do not believe that there has been any collusion. Of course owners and the commissioner have talked about him but I doubt that they have a pact to keep him out of the league. It is more likely that each owner has decided that they simply do not want to be the one to sign him and upset a good portion of their fans and have to deal with the circus that would come with signing him. Regardless of talent, signing Kap is bad for business and above all else the owners are businessmen.
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Kap opted out of his contract. What a joke. Publicity stunt for the for-profit racism industry
I originally thought that too but if you've noticed he hasn't done a single interview this whole period. Usually if you are out for money you would be doing the media circuit, I have also heard that Kap gives a lot to charities and works within poor communities.
Like someone earlier stated, collusion is very hard to prove but it is quite obvious that the NFL owners (and most likely Goodell) have made a pact not to sign Kaepernick because of his polarising protests. Multiple less qualified QB's have been signed and traded for and Kaepernick hasn't even been asked to any training camps or workouts. When Colts knew Luck would be out for the first several weeks of the season and would rather put in their abysmal back ups and then trade for Pats third string QB Brissett...I personally knew the fix was in.
whoa whoa whoa.
Its not obvious at all.
It IS obvious that all NFL teams have decided they would rather have a ****ty QB who doesnt provide a distraction than bring in a slightly less ****ty QB.
Kaepernik is very mediocre, 29 years old, and forces you to design the entire offense around a very unique set of strengths and weaknesses. He just isnt good enough to carry this distraction into a locker room.
That said, maybe a QB goes down (Aaron Rodgers) and a team decides that his talent is worth the distraction. There does exist a point somewhere where the next best available QB is inferior enough that Kaep will be signed.
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I'm no lawyer—I didn't even sleep at a Holiday Inn last night—but it seems to me that collusion is very difficult to prove in a court of law.
I am not a lawyer either, but to my layman's eyes collusion seems impossible to prove here.
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I'm no lawyer—I didn't even sleep at a Holiday Inn last night—but it seems to me that collusion is very difficult to prove in a court of law.
I am not a lawyer either, but to my layman's eyes collusion seems impossible to prove here.
Unless somebody was a whistleblower, or somebody was dumb enough to put the plan into writing, I think that's right.
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Look Cap is bad. He was always a tall mobile quarterback with a strong arm and questionable accuracy. He was incapable of making the simplest of reads down the field. Mobile quartbacks are able to improve if they become a better signal caller. Cap was awful before all of this went down. If a team thought he could help, he would be on a squad already.
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TPs to chicagoceltic and Ilikesports.
I agree that if Kaepernick was just an ordinary dude he would probably be a 3rd stringer somewhere, but teams have likely [individually] decided that it is not worth the distraction or fan outrage. I think some people are greatly overvaluing his current talent level.
I understand what he is doing and more power to him for bringing an issue to the forefront he thought deserved attention, but there are sometimes consequences for protests. The fact is, if Kap really was a generational talent, then he would be signed; even Michael Vick was given another opportunity.
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TPs to chicagoceltic and Ilikesports.
I agree that if Kaepernick was just an ordinary dude he would probably be a 3rd stringer somewhere, but teams have likely [individually] decided that it is not worth the distraction or fan outrage. I think some people are greatly overvaluing his current talent level.
I understand what he is doing and more power to him for bringing an issue to the forefront he thought deserved attention, but there are sometimes consequences for protests. The fact is, if Kap really was a generational talent, then he would be signed; even Michael Vick was given another opportunity.
Excellent point. Basically if you have talent, some team will take a shot on you. I mean look at Greg Hardy. That dude literally threw a woman half his size into a tub. LITERALLY threw her. And the Cowgirls gave him a shot.
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TPs to chicagoceltic and Ilikesports.
I agree that if Kaepernick was just an ordinary dude he would probably be a 3rd stringer somewhere, but teams have likely [individually] decided that it is not worth the distraction or fan outrage. I think some people are greatly overvaluing his current talent level.
I understand what he is doing and more power to him for bringing an issue to the forefront he thought deserved attention, but there are sometimes consequences for protests. The fact is, if Kap really was a generational talent, then he would be signed; even Michael Vick was given another opportunity.
I think he's better than a third stringer, but I agree he's not worth signing. Teams aren't going to anger a vocal 15% of their base or so (and a less vocal 35% - 45%) for a guy who probably won't impact wins much.
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Kap opted out of his contract. What a joke. Publicity stunt for the for-profit racism industry
I originally thought that too but if you've noticed he hasn't done a single interview this whole period. Usually if you are out for money you would be doing the media circuit, I have also heard that Kap gives a lot to charities and works within poor communities.
Like someone earlier stated, collusion is very hard to prove but it is quite obvious that the NFL owners (and most likely Goodell) have made a pact not to sign Kaepernick because of his polarising protests. Multiple less qualified QB's have been signed and traded for and Kaepernick hasn't even been asked to any training camps or workouts. When Colts knew Luck would be out for the first several weeks of the season and would rather put in their abysmal back ups and then trade for Pats third string QB Brissett...I personally knew the fix was in.
Kaepernick not being asked to workout for teams is simply not true. Seattle and Baltimore both worked him out this past off season. If reports are true, Baltimore was on the verge of signing him until Kaepernick's idiot girlfriend blasted Baltimore's owner and best franchise player in a racist tweet.
Let's also not forget that Miami was no longer an option after Kaepernick wore a Fidel Castro t-shirt during a news conference to discuss the oppression of African Americans. When a reporter questioned him about Castro, he ended up praising the man.
To top it all, he is the face of the movement to kneel during the national anthem, which the NFL is desperately trying to get rid of. He would be too much of a distraction for any locker room, especially when it came to reporters. Can you imagine being a teammate who has put in all the work during the offseason and this season, and they suddenly go from answering football game related questions to Kaepernick questions every week?
Also, one of his biggest drawbacks as a quarterback, was the fact that he had zero touch on his passes. He would either run with the ball or throw it 100 mph, whether his receiver was 5 or 50 yards away.
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Kap opted out of his contract. What a joke. Publicity stunt for the for-profit racism industry
It takes an impressive level of commitment to see a guy lose probably 7 figures of salary due to his political actions and still conclude it's all just being done for profit.
I don't know enough about employment law or the NFL CBA to know the likelihood of his case succeeding, but I'm guessing some interesting stuff will come up during discovery regardless.
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He almost certainly got collectively railroaded by the NFL owners. I just don't think it can actually be proven.
He should have a job in the NFL as a backup somewhere. Some of the guys that actually do have jobs right now kinda proves that.
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I don't think there was collusion at all. I just think by and large the owners all reached the same conclusion that signing Kaep just wasn't worth the headache from a business standpoint. The Ravens, for example, seriously considered signing him during the preseason when Flacco was out, but even when that story broke, they got a lot of mail on both sides and determined that Kaep just wasn't worth the headache as a backup (since they figured Flacco would be back for Game 1 and he was). Now maybe if Flacco was going to be out for the first few weeks, the Ravens might have signed him because Kaep is most likely better than Mallet. At the end of the day though, the NFL is a business and the owners are always looking out for their own bottom line and Kaep just isn't good for business right now.
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So all of the teams deciding to pass on a headcase for their Quarterback (leader) = collusion?
It's so much easier to be the victim isn't it?
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He almost certainly got collectively railroaded by the NFL owners. I just don't think it can actually be proven.
He should have a job in the NFL as a backup somewhere. Some of the guys that actually do have jobs right now kinda proves that.
The biggest difference between Kaepernick and QB's currently on NFL rosters, is that those QB's make the team the priority and are willing to contribute in whatever way they can. Kaepernick wants to be an activist first, and then be a QB to bring his brand into the spotlight.
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Like others have said, I think his talent level is high enough that his not being on an NFL roster is conspicuous but not enough to make me think it definitely outweighs the media headache he brings with him. If he was better, I would be more likely to believe collusion.
As usual with this kind of thing, if he had been left alone (by politicians and the league) he'd just be some third-string QB kneeling during the anthem and there would be no story and maybe no one else even joining him. But the reaction to the protest has kind of validity of the need for the protest, to me.