A little after 12 am EST today, a former NFL executive wrote an op-ed on CNN titled "Now is the moment to sign Colin Kaepernick". The link is attached to the bottom of this update. This op-ed is pretty significant.
The NFL exec's name is Joe Lockhart and he was the VP of Communications and Government Affairs from 2016-2018 (before then, he was the White House press secretary under Bill Clinton).
You can read the entire op-ed in the attached article, but I'll give the quick notes here: Lockhart wants an NFL team to sign Colin Kaepernick. He even proposes that the Minnesota Vikings sign him and give him a legitimate chance to play the game he loves.
We'll get back to that in a sec...
What's significant in the op-ed is that Lockhart gives details on what took place in the NFL's league offices after Kaepernick protested in 2016. The details are long, so we'll try to keep it brief.
1. No issue plagued the NFL more than Kaepernick's protest
Lockhart said that out of all the issues the league faced, from Ray Rice, Deflategate (that nearly went to the Supreme Court) and others, nothing "challenged" the league more than Kaepernick's 2016 protest.
2. Trump's 2017 "Get That Son-of-a-bitch off the field" rally chant messed everything up
Lockhart said the Players Coalition, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and others had "good dialogue" on how to promote racial justice. After Trump's chant, "a line was drawn" and all protests were "back on the field again". This also reassured the NFL Owner's stance on how they felt about signing Kaepernick.
3. The NFL Owners really didn't want Kaepernick
This was the biggest news. Lockhart said that he, several other league executives, and Roger Goodell really wanted the NFL Owners to sign Kaepernick, but the owners refused because -- in Lockhart's words -- the owners thought he was "bad for business". It's as simple as that! An executive from one team that wanted him said the team "projected to lose 20% of their season ticket holders" if they signed Kaepernick. He said the owners would rather spend millions to "address the problem of racial division" in America.
4. Lockhart realized throwing dollars at the issue was the wrong approach
In the piece, Lockhart said he's a "product of white privilege" and thought that "spending money on the issue of racial disparities" was the right approach. But he knew that Kaepernick being unsigned every day "was a symbol of racial injustice" in America. After the police murder of George Floyd and the protest that are *still* going on, Lockhart realized that Kaepernick playing on the field was a much bigger symbol of racial progress than any money that could've been thrown at the issue.
5. Lockhart wants the Minnesota Vikings to sign Kaepernick
Lockhart said he knows signing Kaep "will not solve the problem of Black and police violence". But his signing will recognize the problem Kaep raised, and show that -- with courage -- real progress can be made. Lockhart says he knows the Vikings owners and that they deeply love their "adopted city" of Minneapolis (they are originally from New Jersey), and signing Kaepernick there can be a big step to acknowledge that "wrongs can be righted".
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Okay...we know that wasn't brief. But we know many of you are not surprised at these facts. We're sure many of you knew the NFL Owners didn't want to sign him, that the owners catered to Trump and his base, etc.
It's just good to finally have a WHITE executive who was involved with the NFL to ADMIT many of the things that kept Kaepernick off the field.
Hopefully, the NFL Owners will get out of their bigoted ways and realize that, finally, there are people who are tired of the injustice happening in America. And now, they are showing you by the protests in each city!
And as we said all along: Signing Kaepernick has ALWAYS been good for business.
#NoKaepernickNoNFL
#ImWithKap
P.S. - Kaepernick has set up a fund to pay the lawyers expenses for those in Minneapolis protesting for George Floyd. To donate, click here.