Colin Kaepernick files collusion grievance against NFL owners - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE]After remaining largely silent while languishing as an NFL free agent for more than seven months, quarterback Colin Kaepernick filed a collusion grievance against league owners under the collective bargaining agreement Sunday. "We can confirm that this morning we filed a grievance under the CBA on behalf of Colin Kaepernick. This was done only after pursuing every possible avenue with all NFL teams and their executives," Kaepernick's lawyer, Mark Geragos, said in a statement. "If the NFL (as well as all professional sports leagues) is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful political protest -- which the owners themselves made great theater imitating weeks ago -- should not be punished and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the Executive Branch of our goverment. Such a precedent threatens all patriotic Americans and harkens back to our darkest dyas as a nation. Protecting all athletes from such collusive conduct is what compelled Mr. Kaepernick to file his grievance. "Colin Kaepernick's goal has always been, and remains, to simply be treated fairly by the league he performed at the highest level for and to return to the football playing field." [/QUOTE] [URL="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/10/15/colin-kaepernick-collusion-claim-against-nfl-owners/766348001/"]Source[/URL]

for anyone interested [url]http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/03/colin-kaepernick-nfl-martyr-215572[/url] is a great piece about what the NFL was warned they shouldn't do and everything so far has played out accordingly the league has systematically put up hit pieces to argue he's not being blackballed just that "he's not good enough." which hold up without scrutiny but fall to pieces when you actually dig into the statistics frankly the nfl should not be aiding the whitehouse and fox in framing this as a protest against patriotism or the flag, but they are and its not going to get better by putting the screws on them

He's just honestly not that great. There's a million options available that aren't Colin Kaepernick, and they are going to yield same or better results on the field. Couple that mediocrity with the fact that there is awful publicity around him that he just won't let settle down, and he's not worth signing. I mean, the Dolphins signed Jay Cutler out of retirement when Kaepernick was still available. I don't know any owner that is spiteful enough to pass up an active/better player to sign someone out of retirement to try to rescue their team from the grave. The guy is good enough to show up on a depth chart, sure. But the dark cloud he has built up around him is what is making him lose value. When you are in this business, as a player or coach, you are the PR device of your team. If you can't generate good PR somehow, you aren't going to get a contract. It's not like getting a job at the office.

Tbh I'm glad my gf works until a little after when each football game we go to starts, meaning we show up early second quarter rather than at the start, because that means I get to avoid picking a side and getting pointlessly judged. Just sitting there not giving a fuck isn't an option, because then both sides'll get buttmad. Kneeling shows I pick that side, standing shows I pick that side. There's no option that just lets me live my life controversy-free when I just want to see some occasional awesome miracle plays happen and watch the numbers go up on the scoreboard

[media]https://youtu.be/U-zJL9JuOLQ[/media]

[QUOTE=ilikecorn;52785922]The NFL's previous policies have lead to punishments over stickers on helmets for the dallas cops that were shot, and wearing different colored cleats to raise awareness for various things (womens violence, breast cancer etc etc) So why should an exception be made for this dude? Why, in an organization that specifically goes out of its way to say "no" to everything else, should this be any different? Like, don't get me wrong, I don't really care about his protests, but why should kaepernick be allowed to protest when everyone else has been shut down by the league? Because he's black? Negative.[/QUOTE] Then they should be upfront and just say it's because of his political protesting and not try to spin some yarn about how he's "not good enough" to get signed. Did the players who wanted to wear stickers or cleats remain unsigned like Kaepernick is? Not to mention the giant hypocrisy now with entire teams kneeling before the game without punishment and the owners making a show of solidarity with their players. You wanna talk about bad PR, the league is doing a fantastic job of doing that themselves.

Pure skill was never the only variable when hiring players. Teams take into account the whole package and how much value, as a whole, they would add to the team. This includes the attitude of the players, the public's opinion of the players, how having that player would affect team cohesion, etc.

[QUOTE=gk99;52785768]Tbh I'm glad my gf works until a little after when each football game we go to starts, meaning we show up early second quarter rather than at the start, because that means I get to avoid picking a side and getting pointlessly judged. Just sitting there not giving a fuck isn't an option, because then both sides'll get buttmad. Kneeling shows I pick that side, standing shows I pick that side. There's no option that just lets me live my life controversy-free when I just want to see some occasional awesome miracle plays happen and watch the numbers go up on the scoreboard[/QUOTE] There's no controversy in standing. You'll always get judged for sitting.

[QUOTE=ilikecorn;52785999]They were already signed, and had support of their teams, and were still told "do it and get fined, do it again and get benched" The league shot itself in the foot by not just immediately telling kaepernick "ok, here's a $400k fine". Because that's what they did to everyone else. [editline]16th October 2017[/editline] I've always laughed at those who judged me for sitting during the anthem. Bitch i'm a disabled vet, i'll sit during whatever I want. If you feel the need to judge someone for doing something during the anthem, then you really need to recheck your priorities.[/QUOTE] i wonder how people feel if they call you out for sitting and then find out they didn't call you out just acted rudely to a disabled vet

[QUOTE=ilikecorn;52785922]The NFL's previous policies have lead to punishments over stickers on helmets for the dallas cops that were shot, and wearing different colored cleats to raise awareness for various things (womens violence, breast cancer etc etc) So why should an exception be made for this dude? Why, in an organization that specifically goes out of its way to say "no" to everything else, should this be any different? Like, don't get me wrong, I don't really care about his protests, but why should kaepernick be allowed to protest when everyone else has been shut down by the league? Because he's black? Negative.[/QUOTE] Its the fact that they're being so sleezy about it. Look if they went out and said "Ya he's just too radioactive to sign" then it wouldn't be so bad, instead they're attacking him, his character, and conflating his protest with other politics

[QUOTE=Sableye;52789851]Its the fact that they're being so sleezy about it. Look if they went out and said "Ya he's just too radioactive to sign" then it wouldn't be so bad, instead they're attacking him, his character, and conflating his protest with other politics[/QUOTE] I haven't seen any official action that I would call sleazy. Everyone who understands this process knows why he isn't getting signed. He simply isn't worth the added baggage that he would bring to a team, despite what talent he may have/had.

Collusion has been a documented issue in American sports since the eighties. the story of Lonnie Smith, should you go looking for it, may enlighten you to how deeply this can drive players to desperation. [editline]18th October 2017[/editline] For those who don't want to trawl through articles: Lonnie Smith was colluded against by most MLB managers in the mid-eighties because he blew the lid on the MLB coke scandal, and became so desperate that he resolved to kill the ringleader of the collusion, and even bought a firearm and wholly intended to do it. What stopped him was the fact he sliced his hand open with the gun's hammer by accident, and it shook him out of his stupor.

[QUOTE=Chris Morris;52790282]Collusion has been a documented issue in American sports since the eighties. the story of Lonnie Smith, should you go looking for it, may enlighten you to how deeply this can drive players to desperation. [editline]18th October 2017[/editline] For those who don't want to trawl through articles: Lonnie Smith was colluded against by most MLB managers in the mid-eighties because he blew the lid on the MLB coke scandal, and became so desperate that he resolved to kill the ringleader of the collusion, and even bought a firearm and wholly intended to do it. What stopped him was the fact he sliced his hand open with the gun's hammer by accident, and it shook him out of his stupor.[/QUOTE] I am pretty sure that the collusion you are talking about wasn't against Lonnie Smith specifically, and was a plot by the MLB owners to keep salaries low and prevent players from getting exorbitant contracts.

[QUOTE=Revenge282;52791113]I am pretty sure that the collusion you are talking about wasn't against Lonnie Smith specifically, and was a plot by the MLB owners to keep salaries low and prevent players from getting exorbitant contracts.[/QUOTE] Lonnie was a direct target of John Schuerholz, who kept him away from pretty much every team. It wasn't a blanket thing, Lonnie was a genuine target.