And Colin Kaepernick is bound by what we wish to do because...? Why does he owe us serenity? I don't pay Kaepernick's paychecks, and I am not his coach. I am not his comrade in arms, as I am not employed by the San Francisco 49ers or NFL in any capacity, and certainly not as his teammate. What standing do I have to dictate what are and are not appropriate venues for his expression? I bet some folks in Greenville, North Carolina's Woolworth's in 1960 wanted to just eat their lunch in peace.
I know I'm not adding much, and I apologize for that, but I thought this Shea Serrano article was tremendous re: Kaepernick today. A definite must read, I believe. https://theringer.com/colin-kaepernick-protest-biracial-kids-f982eacc740f#.x3zjil3l1 On the plus side, football starts in officially less than 1 week. I love that the Packers are as under the radar as they can be right now. With Jordy healthy and a TE in Jared Cook who can stretch the field, the aerial attack should be back in full force, hopefully opening lanes for Eddie Lacy again. Most definitely going to miss John Kuhn, however. Not going to be the same not being able to yell "Kuuuuuuuhn" every time dude got the ball...
In terms of actual football, I think it is awesome that the Broncos named a starting quarterback who probably wasn't as good at quarterbacking as his best receiver in college.
And thats the reason Shea is my favorite Internet writer at the moment. Mixes poignancy and humor in a flawless way. "Daddy I saw a witch at the mall today" had me in tears. His twitter is a must read.
I'm part of their paying audience. They exist to do nothing more than entertain their audience. If they fuck that up, they lose money. The ONLY reason the NFL exists is to make money. If they fail to meet my expectations for that "owed serenity", then they lose me as a customer. If Kap rocks that boat, he'll be nothing but a memory.
Kaepernick kneeling for the anthem is listed first on ESPN's top headlines right now, and is the main story on their NFL page. It's the top two stories on SI's NFL page and the #1 NFL headline on CBS Sports. Meanwhile, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins is sponsoring a panel of police and community members in his home town to try to help improve relations between LE and the community. I found out about this via a post on the NBA subreddit because none of the main sports media sites even mention it except for SI, which has a headline down its NBA page. We like to bitch about the way the media covers issues, and we've all pretty much agreed that the media's primary motive is profit. If focusing on Kap's actions while ignoring the actions of Cousins is what the media thinks will get the most reads/ratings, then it reflects pretty badly on us as a society if the media thinks we'd collectively rather read about news that's going to piss people off than more positive stories. So as a consequence, our own cynicism makes Kap's actions more productive toward bringing attention toward social issues than actual efforts toward fixing those problems.
It's the emotional reaction. If the audience is pissed they comment and drive the story = $$. If it's a feel good story they like it and move on. I hadn't heard about what Cousins is doing but it sounds awesome and I wish it was a bigger story.
This is the kind of thing that should be done, actively working towards a solution, not grandstanding. Kudos to Mr. Cousins. At least Kap has come out and said he's looking at different groups to work with and will donate the first $1M he earns this year.
The question is if Mr. Kaepernick will even earn a million dollars this year. By this year I mean the 2016 football season, not the 11 million he received for being on the roster at April 1, 2016.
He'll make 1 million by Week Two: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/09/02/kaepernick-says-hell-give-1-million-to-charity/
I just wanna say while I disagree with the criticism of Kap's anthem actions, I'm totally on board with anyone who wants to criticize his 'fro. Lots of people can rock a 'fro but some people can't, and unfortunately Kap's one of the people who can't.
Vikings trade 2017 1st rounder for Sam Bradford A 1st rounder for Sam Bradford. A 1st rounder for Sam Bradford. Sam Bradford who's already torn his ACL twice. Sam Bradford who's now playing behind this Vikings o-line. Sam Fucking Bradford. Just start the 2016-17 NBA season already. Please.
In case you ever wondered if NFL front offices freak out like you do when your first pick in Fantasy goes down for the year...
Cam Newton got decked. Why ruin his season for a nearly meaningless first game win? Panthers coach is an idiot for jeopardizing their star like that. Should have benched him after the first injury.
Especially when they might set the tone for your season when you're playing a revenge rematch game against the defending Super Bowl champs.
Yeah, those were some serious hits to the head. http://i.imgur.com/Mn1z9Ld.mp4 Unless I missed it, only one of those 4 hits to the head got flagged. Nice to see the league is taking those "lead with your helmet" hits and concussions seriously. Cam was also all class in the post-game... have to give him credit for that...
That being said, I'm sure Cam is now really looking forward to playing the season opener against the Broncos.