GET THAT SON OF A BITCH OFF THE FIELD!

NFL courage takes a bye week with bizarre Colin Kaepernick tryout

By Scott Ostler

San Francisco Chronicle
November 14, 2019

Colin Kaepernick’s one-day NFL tryout camp Saturday is a test of courage.

It is not Kaepernick’s courage that is being tested. He aced that test when he put his career on the line for his beliefs.

It’s the NFL’s courage that is being tested — team owners, coaches and general managers.

Spoiler alert: The grades are in. Everyone failed. For NFL courage, this is a bye week.

The NFL is a league of bravery and toughness. The faint of heart need not apply. You man up and play like a warrior. That’s also how you coach and how you build your team. You draft for toughness and you praise courage, and you sneer at weakness or fear.

That concept took a huge hit this week, as the leaders in the world’s toughest league scurried for cover.

It was shocking and hilarious.

This simple question was asked of many team head coaches, owners and GMs: “Will you send a representative to the Kaepernick showcase?” It’s not a hard question, it’s not an unfair question. It’s a question that deserves an answer. A few teams answered, but most ducked.

Jon Gruden, asked if the Raiders will send a rep, said, “I don’t know. I’m going to answer questions about the Bengals.”

Gruden does know. GM Mike Mayock would not send a rep to the tryout without talking it over with his head coach.

The 49ers are not on the “attend” list, but Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reported that the 49ers likely would send a rep. Wednesday, coach Kyle Shanahan said, “I don’t know. I would guess we would (send someone). But that’s not something I’ve asked them, yet.”

Most coaches are vague, as if they have no clue. Some broke out into flop sweat trying to answer the question without answering it.

Let me help you, fellas. Pick one:

“Yes, we are sending a rep. Here’s why.”

“No, we are not sending a rep. Here’s why.”

The league announced Thursday that 11 teams have indicated they will send a representative, and teams have until Saturday to decide to attend. The league announcement may have been in response to an embarrassing public disagreement between the league and Kaepernick’s representatives over whether the NFL told Kaepernick they would supply him with a list of teams attending.

Why are coaches, GMs and owners ducking and covering? This is a big deal, and there’s no reason for any team to evade that question, other than fear.

Teams are afraid to attend the tryout, and afraid not to.

For teams attending, there is fear over who to send. If they send a guy who is either too high or too low on the team organizational chart, that sends a statement and opens the team to criticism.

Race is a factor. Owners and coaches fear alienating black fans and black players, the latter making up two-thirds of the NFL workforce. There is widespread belief among Kaepernick’s supporters that he is one of the best 100 quarterbacks on the planet and has been blackballed.

You can smell the fear.

The one-day showcase was born of fear.

Steve Wyche of NFL Network reported that he was told the workout was called by the league partly in reaction to teams (plural) contacting the league to ask if it’s OK to work out or sign Kaepernick.

Commissioner Roger Goodell should have told those inquiring teams, “You should be embarrassed that you called me to ask.”

When Chad Henne, Patrick Mahomes’ backup, was injured, the Chiefs needed a quarterback, pronto. Without checking with the league office, they phoned Matt Moore, a journeyman knockaround quarterback who retired after the 2017 season. The phone call probably went something like this:

Hey, Matt, what are you up to?

I’m an assistant coach of a high school team.

Want to come back and quarterback the Chiefs?

Uh, sure.

Cool, see you at practice.

Instead of standing tall and manning up, as the expression goes, Goodell & Company are hiding. No explanation for the hastily called camp, or for why Kaepernick was not given more than three days of notice.

(Per CBS News late Thursday, the following teams have committed to attending: Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington.)

Kaepernick seems skeptical that this exercise is legit.

“Can’t wait to see the head coaches and GMs on Saturday,” Kaepernick tweeted Tuesday.

LOL, as the tweeters say. Zero head coaches will attend this party, and probably zero general managers. Also zero offensive coordinators. How low on team organizational charts do we need to go here to make the point? To Joan in payroll?

Before the Atlanta event was announced, Kaepernick’s mother, Teresa Kaepernick, tweeted, “The NFL doesn’t deserve him. And they still don’t. He is so much more than them, thankfully.”

Maybe the league can get better. Maybe those people simply need a shot of courage. If so, they’ve come to the right guy.


EDITOR’S NOTE: Donald Trump was spot on when he said “Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when someone disrespects our flag to say, 'get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He's fired. He's fired.’”

An ungrateful and unpatriotic Kaepernick should have been fired and never allowed to step on an NFL playing field again. Instead a gutless and shameful NFL let the disrespect for flag and country get out of hand.

Kaepernick’s sorry ass should have been shipped out of the country. Let him play for the Kingdom of Eswatini’s (Swaziland) football team.