Reasonable
Not denying that it is speculation, but better to speculate from the facts. Kap was convinced that he had the right to protest while in uniform, hence the court case. Because of his court case we can assume and speculate that he thought that his talent would still ensure that he would be a part of this league, rather than convinced his actions would cost him everything. That’s how I see it.
You’re right, but teams did pay taxes before that and to the teams went the bulk of the profits so my argument stands. They are not public, but they do have investors and for them, these teams are for profit investments.
NFL teams don’t have to say why they don’t hire player so and so. With thousands of players available each year that go unsigned (Kurt Wagner was working a nine to five job) teams can afford to pass on anyone for a lot of “reasons” that are quite frankly petty. “He will be a distraction”. What?! They are supposed to be professionals or easily distracted youths?. The more likely reason is that such and such player is not worth a risk, whatever the team perceives as a risk, and, because supply exceeds demands, they can afford to do so. If you make money from selling over-priced seats, will you hire someone that may cause potential buyers to stay at home and watch the game on tv? Brady being the exception.
That’s all fine and dandy. No one is arguing that there are no reasons TO protest, but that you can protest without dragging an entire organization into that protest. Is he Kap the next MLKJr? Sadly, the answer is no. I agree with all of what you have said and it troubles me, but I believe that this is a democracy, that a democracy is the best way to address such issues, that I served in the military because I believe in protecting our freedom, like the right to vote which too many take for granted, including a certain Kaepernick. The for-me case at the courts further cements my view that his outrage was genuine at a personal level but that his vision is lacking.
Suppose that he wins the case. He gets money. How does that improve the situation of thousands of the black community in jail? Suppose that arbitration compels the NFL as a whole to protect the right of people to stand, sit, or knee during the anthem: how is that going to help reduce police brutality? It may have many effects including turning the league into a platform for SJW albeit in front of a largely empty stadium, thus taking away from the very impact the silent protest meant to achieve. Of course this is only speculation. Who knows, maybe without voting, without political action in the traditional sense, maybe the ills facing minorities will be cured. “Oh we never knew until Kap took a knee and opened our eyes!”
He could’ve organized a march in his off time. Worked on a spike lee project. His public persona, which he owns, can be effective without being in uniform. He was free to do any of that but thought that the ONLY way, the ONLY recourse he had, was to be subversive while in uniform for a brand he does not own, has no care in protecting. We will see soon enough if this Nike ad campaign experiment will yield positive results for a for profit company. Already Missouri has dropped Nike, but while some reports suggests a negative impact to their business, other news outlets report a surge in their sales. We will see if given the platform Nike has given him, conditions on the issues that supposedly animated Kap are affected by the fiat of advertisement alone. Again, in my opinion, only voting, becoming a voting block, a political force, can affect society in the dramatic way required to change the conditions for minorities and this cat just doesn’t get it.
Kap made it a point to tie his protest to the national anthem. Tebow took a knee before games, during, after, but he did not make it a point do it during the anthem. Tebow was good for business. As I said before, if Kap’s kneeling was profitable then we would not be having this conversation. If Nike doubles its profit after the Kap Campaign, I wouldn’t put it past the realm of reality that Kap gets a contract simply because teams want to put assess on the stands and if they made the relation Kap=$ that might happen.
But will any of that reduce police brutality for example?