**UPDATE: reports indicate that the settlement between the two is now speculated at less than $10M**
Another chapter has closed in the Colin Kaepernick collusion case. Former San Francisco 49ers teammates Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid have settled their joint collusion grievance with the NFL. In Oct. 2017, Kaepernick filed the grievance as a way to contest that owners colluded against signing him as revenge for his kneeling protests during the 2016-17 season. Following that season, Kaepernick never found NFL employment. While Reid joined the lawsuit in May 2018, he’d eventually sign with the Carolina Panthers.
Rewind to my Aug. 14, 2018 article titled President Trump, Fans (and I) should Express Acceptance toward NFL Kneeling Protests. This editorial explained my mindset on this situation heading into the 2018-19 season. Here’s the very quick rundown of that article:
A player of Kaepernick’s stature didn’t need to get his point across through such demonstrations. Doing so shifted much of the conversation from racial injustice to National Anthem etiquette. That said, while I’m not a fan of kneeling protests, Kaepernick has the right to express himself. Kaepernick had no bad intentions or animosity. Nobody was physically harmed or endangered. Furthermore, I blame the league for allowing the negative publicity to get out of control. They should pay for their stagnancy and mishandling of this situation.
Pay they have. The NFL had to pay the aforementioned Kaepernick collusion grievance. In 2017, the NFL agreed to contribute $89 million over seven years to projects dealing with criminal justice reform, law enforcement, community relations, and education. Declining television ratings. Decreased advertising revenue. Loads of negative publicity. Disinterested fans…
Isn’t it amazing to consider that these kneeling protests started during Aug. 2016 preseason games? That’s approximately 30 months ago. That’s two-and-a-half-years ago. One man and a few of his teammates decided to protest racial injustice using displays meant for military veterans. As of Feb. 2019, we’re still discussing this Kaepernick collusion case to the tune of him receiving a settlement speculated (not official) between $60-80 million. Prime Time Sports owner Stephen Martin will close his sports merchandise business after a Nike boycott essentially killed his profits. As Martin was quoted:
Being a sports store without Nike is like being a gas station without gas.
Hate to see that. The owner felt strongly about whether people had the right to stand or kneel during the National Anthem. He wanted to support the veterans. Can’t knock the man for risking his financial livelihood to prioritize his morals. Unfortunately, now he owes $60,000 in back rent. His business will close. Many Kaepernick supporters will label him as the ultimate laughingstock.
Boycotting Nike? Remember this story. Boycotting a capitalism behemoth might give them a fender-bender. The effects will trickle down to the smaller businesses that rely on them. They’ll feel it more. And unless those lost sales get replaced, those smaller companies may get totaled.
Back to that settlement amount. We’ll assume the speculated $60-80 million is true. He makes all that money while preserving his health. He makes all that money while establishing himself with Nike. He makes all that money while enhancing his star power far more than he ever would’ve as a player.
Not too shabby. Entering the 2017-18 season, Kaepernick would’ve challenged for a few starting jobs. He certainly provided a massive upgrade for some teams as a No. 2 quarterback (cough, Mark Sanchez and Nathan Peterman, cough). Instead, the mobile quarterback made more money while not taking a hit these last two years.
What can we learn from this Kaepernick collusion saga? Below was something in my aforementioned article:
Society shouldn’t silence individuals. When properly used, silence is the deadliest weapon. Consider the 2016 election. Trump was an underdog against Hillary Clinton. Most people thought he had no chance of winning the nomination. At this point, simply not participating in a gay pride social media posting was enough to earn condemnation and unfollows. The perception was that there was no way that our country would want to stray away from the accomplishments of the Obama Administration.
Trump won. Reality set in. Those silenced voices didn’t translate into changing mindsets. Silence created a false perception of the opponent. That opponent was just buying time to prepare to play Guerrilla Warfare. Leftists weren’t ready for the ambush. They bought into silence as their sign of victory. Turns out it was four years of retreating.
What can everyone learn from this, especially rightists? Political correctness doesn’t solve disagreements. Silencing voices doesn’t kill the enemy; it creates a deadlier, harder-to-combat foe.
The sound of silence, we meet again.
People have done anything but gone silent while debating everything involved with the Kaepernick collusion case. We’ve seen nearly three years worth of boycotts, burnings, what appeared like a collusion against signing him, hate, bigotry, racism, divide, and people losing their minds because a player prioritized kneeling for his cause over standing for our veterans.
Kneeling itself has no power. It only has as much power as one gives it. Critics could have just rolled their eyes and moved on. They could have accepted his message about racial injustice for what it was without sensationalizing about the spectacles. The constant attention transformed Kaepernick into a very wealthy young man. All while some of his detractors pay the consequences for emotional outbursts.
Think of a troll. The saying goes, “Don’t feed the trolls.” Feeding the trolls will make them stronger. It’s better to ignore them. Remain silenced unless absolutely necessary. Know your role and shut your mouth.
I’m not calling Kaepernick a troll. He has a long history of involvement for his cause that rarely gets publicized because it doesn’t create that sensationalist drama that the media craves. The media wants people to believe that he kneels—and that’s it. Few front page headlines for the charitable donations and events.
What I’m saying is that if you disagree with him, endlessly defiling him won’t make him go away. The obsession makes him matter more. It enhances his brand. It creates sympathy toward him. Kind of like President Trump. The media spewed so much nonsense against him that moderates and undecideds became increasingly attached.
Emotion is a sign of weakness. This Kaepernick collusion case has shown what happens when critics can’t keep their emotions intact. Kaepernick gets more criticism. That leads to more attention. That leads to more power. That leads to more money. That leads to more credibility. It leads to people submerging their own businesses.
Some of ya’ll just need to take the core of his message about racial injustice and forget everything else. If players don’t want to stand, then don’t force them to do so. Let them show their hand. Focus and work on the positives of those messages.
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Joshua Huffman was born and edumacated in Middle Tennessee. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter (although I rarely use it).
