Mark Madden: Signing Colin Kaepernick now would put NFL teams in difficult position - TribLIVE

Colin Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016.

While he hardly sparkled then, Kaepernick wasn’t as useless as his 1-10 record quarterbacking San Francisco might indicate. It was a reflection of his team. His other numbers were solid: 16 touchdowns against four interceptions, for example. Kaepernick’s passer rating of 90.7 ranked him 16th in the league.

Kaepernick was average.

Kaepernick was 29. If he doesn’t protest police brutality against minorities by taking a knee during the national anthem, is he out of the NFL in 2017?

Probably not.

But Kaepernick had to know his actions put his career at risk, which makes his conviction and nobility all the more admirable. But this wasn’t Patrick Mahomes taking a knee (which he could easily do and surely will). This was a borderline performer.

Fast forward to now.

Seattle running back Carlos Hyde says the NFL should show good faith by “signing Kap back.” New Orleans safety Malcolm Jenkins says the NFL should “assign Kaepernick to a team.”

After three years off, that seems absurd at a glance. But there’s a bigger picture now.

Jenkins is definitely right about one thing: The NFL should specifically apologize to Kaepernick. Not necessarily for his unemployment since 2016, but for stifling his protest and others like it. Commissioner Roger Goodell’s failure to use Kaepernick’s name when he said Friday that the NFL was “wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier” made the league’s mission statement regarding Black Lives Matter ring a bit hollow.

But should Kaepernick be given a spot on an NFL roster?

That’s a very difficult question.

If Kaepernick made a team, it would be admitting he should have played the last three years. It would also give a player a roster spot for political reasons, not football purposes. How many times has an athlete got back into any pro sports league after three years off when he was available all that time?

The team that signs Kaepernick would alienate a good chunk of its fan base and deal with the fallout every day. (The Steelers could handle it. Their fans might complain, but few would walk. Mike Tomlin could cope. But they have no need, or interest.)

None of that should matter. But what if you own that team? It wouldn’t be easy.

Conversely, would Hyde want Kaepernick to usurp Russell Wilson in Seattle? Would Jenkins want Kaepernick to oust Drew Brees in New Orleans? (Maybe Jenkins would.)

Just inviting Kaepernick to training camp would cause a domino effect.

If you bring Kaepernick to camp, he has to make the team. If he doesn’t, the reason can’t be a football decision, even if it is. Politics get blamed.

If he makes the team, the starting quarterback had better never lose, or throw an interception, or even throw an incompletion. When that happens, the cry goes out for Kaepernick to start. If he doesn’t, politics get blamed. What if the starter is white? Kaepernick’s supporters don’t merely want him on a roster. They want him to play.

All this would occur after Kaepernick had been out of the NFL for three seasons.

But why stop there? Maybe Kaepernick could be “assigned” a Super Bowl ring. Or a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But it’s easy to understand what the movement is demanding for the man who started it. In a vacuum, it’s preposterous. But consider it in the light of everything that’s happened. Goodell exacerbated those feelings by not mentioning Kaepernick’s name.

If Kaepernick on a roster would make all this go away, the NFL would acquiesce.

But all this isn’t going away, and that’s a good thing.

In the end, Kaepernick will have sacrificed playing in the NFL for a cause that is just and right, and proven right.

There ought to be some kind of Hall of Fame for that.

Categories: Mark Madden Columns | NFL | Sports