The Perfect Marriage- Colin Kaepernick And The NFL

With all the racial tension, civil unrest and protesting going on the past few weeks, two adversaries have a unique opportunity to build a bridge towards healing this country. It’s well documented what Colin Kaepernick started three years ago when he first peacefully and quietly protested police brutality towards black & brown people: or was it?

How was there any confusion from the beginning? Kaepernick was very clear when asked about why he was silently protesting by first sitting. He stated it was about how police were mistreating black/brown people in America. He was sitting at first, then had a conversation with military veteran Nate Boyer. Boyer suggested he kneel because it’s a show of respect to fallen soldiers. If the NFL would have gotten behind him on this from the start, it would have completely changed the narrative of his protest. Sides were pitted against each other. The rest is, well, a tragic history.

Fast forward to today and the climate has somewhat changed. Police brutality has gotten even worse but the outcry has shifted because of one reason: more and more white people are starting to recognize there is an issue. That needed to happen in order for real progress to be made.

The NFL (Roger Goodell) have come to their senses in a way and has seemed to reach out an olive branch to Kaepernick to return to the league he was banished from. However, Kaepernick should forget about coming back as a quarterback. He had outgrown the position and has a greater purpose.

The NFL should hire Kaepernick in the front office in a community relations/outreach, programs/charitable and programs/cultural liaison type capacity. This is a marriage that makes more sense and would have a greater impact. Owners would not like this but… you can’t please everyone.

Sports have always been political and a way to bring people together. This would show the world that people who didn’t see eye-to-eye can actually come together for a common cause to make the world a better place. No one could deny the impact it would have on the collective minds of people, especially in the U.S.