Was Kaepernick Fired From the NFL?
Many people believe that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was fired from the NFL because of his political views. However, the truth is that Kaepernick is simply a free agent who has not been signed by any team since he became a free agent in 2017.
Introduction
In August 2016, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat during the playing of the national anthem as a form of protest against racial injustice in the United States. His peaceful demonstration touched off a nationwide debate, with some people supporting Kaepernick’s right to free speech and others calling for him to be fired from the NFL.
Kaepernick continued to kneel during the anthem throughout the 2016 season, and his protests drew both praise and condemnation from across the country. In 2017, Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers and became a free agent. He has not been signed by another team since then, leading many to believe that he has been “blackballed” by NFL owners due to his political beliefs.
Whether or not Kaepernick has been fired from the NFL is a complicated question without a clear answer. While he has not been signed by another team since becoming a free agent, it’s impossible to know for sure whether this is due to his political views or simply because he is not considered good enough to be worth signing by any of the league’s 32 teams.
What Happened?
In 2017, Colin Kaepernick, a former NFL quarterback, became a free agent. He had played for the San Francisco 49ers for six seasons, and had helped the team to reach the Super Bowl in 2013. During the 2016 NFL season, Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem as a way of protesting police brutality and racial inequality in the United States. His protests drew both support and criticism from within the NFL and from fans. Kaepernick became a free agent in 2017, but no team offered him a contract, leading many to believe that he had been “blackballed” by the NFL.
Why Was Kaepernick Fired?
Many people think that Kaepernick was fired from the NFL because he knelt during the national anthem, but that is not the whole story.
Kaepernick was signed by the San Francisco 49ers in 2011, and he quickly became their starting quarterback. He led the team to the playoffs in 2012 and 2013, and they even made it to the Super Bowl in 2013. However, things began to change in 2015 when Kaepernick started speaking out about police brutality against minorities. He began sitting or kneeling during the national anthem as a way to protest what he felt was unfair treatment of minorities by police officers.
This began a wave of protests by other NFL players, and it did not sit well with many fans or NFL owners. In 2016, Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers, and no other team would sign him. Many people believe that he was effectively blackballed from the NFL because of his protests.
The Aftermath
In the aftermath of the 2016 season, many experts and fans alike speculated that Kaepernick’s absence from an NFL roster was due to his protests during the national anthem. Some even went as far as to say that he had been “blackballed” by the league. However, others pointed out that many other veteran quarterbacks remained unsigned at that time, including Colin Kaepernick, who had started 58 games over the course of his career. In addition, some teams did express interest in signing him, but ultimately decided to go in another direction.
As of September 2020, Kaepernick has not been signed by an NFL team. He is currently a free agent.
Conclusion
After carefully reviewing the evidence, it seems clear that Kaepernick was not fired from the NFL. While he is no longer currently signed to a team, this does not appear to be due to any sort of punishment or retribution from the NFL. Instead, it seems likely that Kaepernick simply hasn’t been signed because he isn’t seen as a good enough quarterback to justify the potential PR headache that signing him would bring.
