Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh didn’t hold back any punches when asked about whether Colin Kaepernick is being blackballed by the NFL. This, of course, is at least indirectly in response to Richard Sherman’s recent comments in which he said Kaepernick absolutely is being punished for his very public national anthem protest last season.
On Tuesday, Harbaugh made it clear he thinks that argument is balderdash.
John Harbaugh on those who say Kaepernick is being blackballed: "Stupid. Intellectually lazy. It's more nuanced."
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 28, 2017
More Harbaugh on Kap: "I absolutely think he's going to get signed. I agree with Jim. He can win games for people." Thinks he'll start.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 28, 2017
This issue might be more nuanced than simply saying Kaepernick is being blackballed. That said, it’s very strange to see guys like Brian Hoyer, Matt Schaub, Josh McCown and Mike Glennon all landing jobs and making decent money for their skill while the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback remains unsigned.
And it’s not like Kaepernick is just unsigned. He’s been completely sidelined. We haven’t heard a peep about any team being really interested. Every team that needs a quarterback has gone a different direction. Perhaps after the draft we’ll see some movement here, but at this time it really does seem like teams around the NFL are avoiding Kaepernick, and the attention he brings, like the plague.
Maybe NFL executives really do hate him. Maybe they think he’s “an embarrassment to football,” as one is reported to have said recently. It’s nice to see his old coach Jim Harbaugh and brother John sticking up for Kaepernick somewhat, but at some point we’ve got to see something happen in terms of a team moving towards him before this angle about blackballing is going to go away.