| |
|
| |
No
matter
how much
the
settlement,
he
bested
the
league,
Kaepernick
Won, NFL
Lost
Jemele
Hill/Sports
Writer
The
Atlantic
Technically,
Colin
Kaepernick
withdrew
his
collusion
case.
Technically,
the NFL
did not
admit it
conspired
to
blackball
Kaepernick
from the
league
after he
began
taking a
knee
during
the
national
anthem
to
protest
racial
injustice.
But
non-technically
speaking,
the NFL
lost.
Massively.
The
terms of
the
settlement,
announced
on
Friday,
were not
disclosed.
But it
doesn’t
matter
how much
money
Kaepernick
ultimately
receives
from the
NFL;
what
matters
is that
he
bested a
league
that has
a long
history
of
pummeling
its
opposition
in
court,
especially
players.
In a
way the
NFL had
no other
choice.
Last
August,
arbitrator
Stephen
Burbank
rejected
the
NFL’s
request
to have
the case
dismissed.
That
meant he
believed
Kaepernick’s
team had
compiled
enough
receipts
to
present
their
case.
With
another
hearing
reportedly
scheduled
for next
month,
did the
NFL
really
want to
let
Kaepernick’s
legal
team
expose
those
receipts
in
court?
Of
course
not.
Owners
and
coaches
already
had
given
depositions
in
Kaepernick’s
case and
the
details
that
emerged
from
those
proceedings
did not
look
good for
the NFL.
For
one, the
depositions
showed
just how
much
league
owners
were
petrified
of
President
Trump,
who had
loudly
criticized
the
player
protests.
According
to the
Wall
Street
Journal,
Dallas
Cowboys
owner
Jerry
Jones
testified
in a
deposition
that in
a phone
conversation
with
Trump,
the
president
told
him,
“This is
a very
winning,
strong
issue
for me”
and
“Tell
everybody,
you
can’t
win this
one.
This one
lifts
me.”
Trump
felt
that
public
sentiment
was on
his side
when it
came to
the
player
protests,
and was
warning
that he
would
not back
off.
That
conversation
with
Jones,
and
separates
ones
with
Miami
owner
Stephen
Ross and
New
England
Patriots
owner
Bob
Kraft,
suggested
that the
league
was
allowing
their
fear of
Trump to
influence
how it
dealt
with
Kaepernick
and the
other
protesters.
Had
Kaepernick’s
case
gone
further,
there
was no
question
that
more
sensitive
and
damaging
information
would
have
come
out. Who
knows
what was
said
about
Kaepernick
or other
players
in texts
and
e-mails.
Even if
Kaepernick
lost the
case,
the NFL
would
have
left
with a
significant
mess.
There
are some
who
already
are
criticizing
Kaepernick
for
settling,
not
realizing
how rare
it is to
see the
NFL
backed
into a
corner,
especially
by a
player.
Tom
Brady,
arguably
the
greatest
quarterback
ever,
couldn’t
beat the
NFL in
court.
Even he
eventually
had to
accept
his
four-game
suspension
for
Deflategate
in 2016.
That
Kaepernick
was the
one to
make the
NFL eat
crow is
a
special
kind of
karma.
This is
just
punishment
because
the
league
incompetently
handled
the
player
protests,
starting
with
Kaepernick,
from the
beginning.
Had the
league
not been
so
heavy-handed
in
policing
the
protests,
this
issue
likely
would
have
abated
sooner.
Had the
league
ignored
Trump
instead
of
cowering
to his
bullying,
appeasing
Trump
wouldn’t
have
become a
priority.
Had one
league
owner
had the
guts to
sign
Kaepernick,
this
collusion
case
would
have
been a
non-starter.
But
too
often,
the NFL
has
shown an
embarrassing
commitment
to being
on the
wrong
side of
history
for the
sake of
profits.
The
league
settled
a $1
billion
class-action
concussion
lawsuit
brought
forth by
former
players,
but in
the
process,
the
league
wasted a
lot of
time
looking
absolutely
foolish
denying
their
culpability.
And
regardless
of the
money
they
spent
trying
to make
the
issue go
away,
concussions
and head
trauma
still
haven’t
disappeared
from the
public
consciousness.
I
still
doubt if
Kaepernick
ever
plays in
the NFL
again,
but the
point of
suing
the NFL
wasn’t
necessarily
about
resuming
his
football
career.
It was
about
holding
the
league
accountable
for
something
that was
entirely
preventable.
Though
this
legal
battle
with
Kaepernick
has been
resolved,
he isn’t
going
away,
either.
The
league
will
forever
have to
live
with the
fact
that it
was
complicit
in
destroying
someone’s
career
simply
because
he
wished
to bring
attention
to the
injustices
suffered
by his
people.
If
owners
and
Roger
Goodell
believe
that
they no
longer
will
have to
face
questions
about
why
Kaepernick
isn’t in
the
league,
they’re
wrong.
No
matter
what an
arbitrator
rules,
how the
NFL
treated
Kaepernick
always
will be
the
mistake
they can
never
amend.
We
want to
hear
what you
think
about
this
article.
Submit a
letter
to the
editor
or write
to
letters@theatlantic.com.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
I
HI TECH NEWS
I
SPORTS
I
