As a true San Francisco 49ers fan myself, I have personally watched the rise and fall of Colin Kaepernick's career. There was no greater time than when we were in the Super Bowl, battling it out and coming so close to winning it all after a historic halftime-blackout.
This past season was not an easy one to watch unfold. The 49ers finished 2-14; yet Kaepernick started 11 games last season, completing 196 of his 331 passes for 2,241 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions, and he added 69 runs for 468 yards and two touchdowns. He also did this with a team whose leading receiver (Jeremy Kerley) caught 64 passes for 667 yards and three touchdowns.
However, Kaepernick has become famous for something much deeper than football: human rights.
Kaepernick has recently been released from the 49ers, and has yet to hear from any other teams as far as being signed. Why?
Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Some say it has to do strictly with his talent in football. Is Colin Kaepernick a top-10 starting quarterback at this point in his career? Not at all. He is inconsistent and needs a specific system to succeed, although that could be said for a ton of current starters in the league right now.
However, this is a guy who threw 16 touchdowns and four picks on a team that was going downhill and in the gutter talent-wise due to awful draft choices led by former general manager Trent Baalke (thank goodness we got rid of him). Kaepernick has shown he can develop and improve, as he's shown the ability to progress through good and bad times.
Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman recently said on ESPN he believes there's something behind Kaepernick's silenced former intriguers. Insisting that Kaepernick could "be a starter on probably 20 of the teams in this league," Sherman continued and said:
"It's difficult to see because he's played at such a high level, and you see guys, quarterbacks, who have never played at a high level being signed by teams. So it's difficult to understand. Obviously he's going to be in a backup role at this point. But you see quarterbacks, there was a year Matt Schaub had a pretty rough year and got signed the next year. So, it has nothing to do with football. You can see that. They signed guys who have had off years before."
No one truly knows the reasoning behind it, but Kaepernick's future in the NFL just might be in jeopardy if it continues to be this way.
This past season was not an easy one to watch unfold. The 49ers finished 2-14; yet Kaepernick started 11 games last season, completing 196 of his 331 passes for 2,241 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions, and he added 69 runs for 468 yards and two touchdowns. He also did this with a team whose leading receiver (Jeremy Kerley) caught 64 passes for 667 yards and three touchdowns.
However, Kaepernick has become famous for something much deeper than football: human rights.
Kaepernick has recently been released from the 49ers, and has yet to hear from any other teams as far as being signed. Why?
Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Some say it has to do strictly with his talent in football. Is Colin Kaepernick a top-10 starting quarterback at this point in his career? Not at all. He is inconsistent and needs a specific system to succeed, although that could be said for a ton of current starters in the league right now.
According to a recent article, about 20 percent of the NFL's decision-makers "genuinely believe he can't play." Another 20 percent are afraid of the blowback from a Kaepernick signing, fearing the reaction of fans, advertisers and even President Donald J. Trump. And as far as the rest of the league?
You'll also hear over and over that Kaepernick's passing has regressed, that he can't get it done in the pocket. His decision-making is terrible, and he's nothing more than an incomplete running quarterback.
"The rest genuinely hate him and can't stand what he did [kneeling for the national anthem]," one AFC general manager told Freeman. "They want nothing to do with him. They won't move on. They think showing no interest is a form of punishment. I think some teams also want to use Kaepernick as a cautionary tale to stop other players in the future from doing what he did."
If this is true, we have a bigger problem than just football; America should not be a country where bosses collude to prevent qualified people from working just to present a negative example to others.
You'll also hear over and over that Kaepernick's passing has regressed, that he can't get it done in the pocket. His decision-making is terrible, and he's nothing more than an incomplete running quarterback.
However, this is a guy who threw 16 touchdowns and four picks on a team that was going downhill and in the gutter talent-wise due to awful draft choices led by former general manager Trent Baalke (thank goodness we got rid of him). Kaepernick has shown he can develop and improve, as he's shown the ability to progress through good and bad times.
Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman recently said on ESPN he believes there's something behind Kaepernick's silenced former intriguers. Insisting that Kaepernick could "be a starter on probably 20 of the teams in this league," Sherman continued and said:
"It's difficult to see because he's played at such a high level, and you see guys, quarterbacks, who have never played at a high level being signed by teams. So it's difficult to understand. Obviously he's going to be in a backup role at this point. But you see quarterbacks, there was a year Matt Schaub had a pretty rough year and got signed the next year. So, it has nothing to do with football. You can see that. They signed guys who have had off years before."
Comments
Post a Comment