NFL’s PR Stunt With Colin Kaepernick Won’t Work

NFL’s PR Stunt With Colin Kaepernick Won’t Work

The NFL just cannot get away from the Colin Kaepernick situation. This Saturday, November 16, Kaepernick will have the opportunity to work out in front of NFL scoutsAtlanta. The personal work out is organized by the NFL but is nothing more than a PR stunt that will do nothing for Kaepernick or the NFL.

Quick Re-Kaep (sorry had to do it)

Since the 2016 NFL season, the league has been wrapped up in a PR nightmare thanks to then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick first sat, then kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial violence in America. More and more players joined him and caused quite a stir around the league. Kaepernick left the team after that season and has not seen the field in an NFL game since.

Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL in 2017 after remaining unsigned as the season began. It was not until this past February that the case was settled. As part of the amending process for Kaepernick, the NFL has organized this work out for him to try and impress scouts. However, this will not happen.

WTF NFL?

Let’s think about this for a minute. If this work out was to be effective, it would be held on literally any other day than Saturday. All of the tops scouts for other teams will be focused on college football, evaluating players who they will take in the draft and groom to be starters or role players. They aren’t going to waste their time with Kaepernick.

Adam Schefter has been at the front of reporting this story and none of it puts the NFL in a good light.

As Colin Kaepernick tweeted, the NFL didn't inform his reps of Saturday's workout in Atlanta until this morning. Kaepernick's reps asked for workout to be on a Tuesday, the day of most workouts, but NFL said it had to be this Saturday. He asked for a later Saturday; NFL said no.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 13, 2019

Several executives with teams have reached out as a courtesy to Colin Kaepernick’s representatives saying they couldn’t attend Saturday’s workout and were confused by the purpose of the NFL scheduling this workout.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 13, 2019

Colin Kaepernick is in Atlanta, preparing for Saturday’s workout that will go on as scheduled, per source.

NFL has not provided names of WRs it plans to have at workout, so Kaepernick is taking up the former NFL WRs who volunteered to fly in on their own to help him at workout.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 15, 2019

Reality

For those that support Kaepernick, do you really think this and this only will get him back into the league? Yes, crappy quarterbacks have been picked up over Kaepernick. But Kaepernick’s best quality, his athleticism, will deteriorate with age (he’s already 32). Any team that needs a quarterback is years away from a Super Bowl and those that are contending already have their quarterback. Kaepernick’s last two years in the league were not great (highly suggest reading this article) and all of a sudden, three years removed from the league, he’s supposed to be on par with Rusell Wilson? That is some wishful thinking.

Chip Kelly: Colin Kaepernick, Blaine Gabbert Very Similar

The reality is, for both Kaepernick and the NFL, Saturday’s work out won’t work. Anyone with a brain knows this one “official” work out won’t get Kaepernick back into the league. All it is is a PR stunt that will blow up in the NFL’s face. I’m sorry to all the Kaepernick lovers, but it’s just not gonna work.