Colin Kaepernick Blackballed: Is More Johnny Manziel, Less Kap Good For NFL?

Colin Kaepernick getting blackballed by the NFL has been a hot topic over the past week. Whether Kaepernick is actually getting blackballed by NFL owners is a debate that many analysts have been waging. It even included President Donald Trump taking credit for the situation during one of his recent rallies.

The entire situation has come about after Kaepernick opted out of his deal with the San Francisco 49ers. A report by ESPN at the beginning of March confirmed the decision of the veteran quarterback, as he wanted to begin a new chapter in his NFL career. That new chapter is off to a rocky start because even though a high number of NFL rumors have mentioned him, there appears to be very few teams actually interested in signing him as a free agent.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, director Spike Lee has entered the conversation on social media, stating that Colin Kaepernick is getting blackballed by the NFL. Lee feels that Kaepernick has done enough to warrant a contract offer from the lowly New York Jets and he doesn’t understand why it hasn’t happened. The Jets recently signed Josh McCown to be the starting quarterback, showing how far the franchise is dipping into the free agent pool.

Colin Kaepernick’s contract included a player option worth $16.9 million for the 2017 NFL season, but he declined the option in order to find a new team. It’s possible that he received bad advice from his agent, including the possibility that a multi-year deal was awaiting him on the open market. It could have been that so many teams, including the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, New York Jets, and Cleveland Browns, needed a new quarterback.

Now there are New Orleans Saints rumors about the team having interest in signing Johnny Manziel. This isn’t the first team that has been linked to Manziel in the offseason NFL rumors, but it raises some important questions about the Colin Kaepernick situation. Are teams really stating that Manziel is better than Kaepernick? Is signing Manziel a way to evade the controversy surrounding CK7?

A report by USA Today also poses some interesting questions, beginning with an attempt to rationalize how people can still be making excuses about Kaepernick remaining unsigned while sub-par quarterbacks are wooed by franchises. It’s now come to the point where an admission of the efforts to blackball Colin Kaepernick may be obvious. Unless there are seriously NFL owners who feel Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, and Mark Sanchez are better than him.

Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the national anthem seems to have cost him a lot in regard to his NFL career. There was a decidedly negative reaction on social media every time he chose to kneel during the pregame singing of the national anthem. That negative view may have moved from fans to the front office of organizations, as Kap still doesn’t have a job. His quote from last season did resonate with a lot of players, though, so it’s possible he just needs the right guy to fight for him.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

There is still a concerted backlash on social media anytime that Kaepernick’s name gets mentioned, suggesting that Johnny Manziel may now have a better “reputation” among NFL fans. This is despite the numerous run-ins with the law that Manziel has had during his short NFL career. That negative view, whether it’s misguided or not, means fewer dollars and bad publicity for teams, fueling the theories about why Colin Kaepernick is blackballed.

[Featured Image by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]