Colin Kaepernick is an NFL pariah. His stand for social justice by taking a knee during the national anthem last season as a member of the San Francisco 49ers has left him sitting on his couch as NFL training camps commence this week.
His sideline satyagraha, designed to bring attention to civil rights violations and disparities in treatment from law enforcement in this country, makes him unemployable in a league that frowns upon individuality and values compliance and conformity from its players.
Players for all 32 teams will have reported for camp by end of this week. It doesn’t look as if Kaepernick will be among them. The only logical reason for his ostracism in a league with a paucity of serviceable quarterbacks is that it’s the result of his activism.
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The comments made last week by former NFL quarterback Michael Vick about Kaepernick’s tonsorial selection and needing to cut his hair to look more “presentable” to NFL teams were unfortunate, vacuous, and asinine. So, is the idea that a haircut is all that’s separating Kaepernick from a place in the NFL? He is being shunned because of his outspoken beliefs about racial injustice in America and polarizing choice of protest, plain and simple.
Regardless of Kaepernick’s political stance, there would be teams that wouldn’t be interested in bringing him aboard. Not every quarterback is a fit for every NFL system. But nearly all of the NFL’s 32 teams have at least three quarterbacks in training camp. It’s hard to believe that the 29-year-old Kaepernick isn’t among the 96 best quarterbacks on the planet. Former Patriots defensive lineman Chris Long tweeted last week that he thought Kaepernick was one of the top 32 last season.
The closest Kaepernick has come to NFL employment was interest from the Seahawks, who brought him in for a visit in May. Pumped and Jacked Pete Carroll said that his former rival should be a starter, not a backup.
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That’s typically exaggerated positivity from Pete. Kaepernick’s days leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl seem like the Mesozoic Era. After desultory seasons for the rudderless 49ers in 2015 and 2016, he is still a borderline NFL starter.
There is a place for him in the league, and the reason he’s not in it right now isn’t his horrible record as a starter the last two seasons (3-16). If there is one constant of NFL player personnel it’s teams taking on reclamation projects, trying to recapture a player’s past glory for their current benefit.
Less capable and accomplished quarterbacks than Kaepernick have NFL homes. Last week, the Rams signed Dan Orlovsky as a backup. Certified busts such as Mark Sanchez (Bears), E.J. Manuel (Raiders), Brandon Weeden (Texans), and Geno Smith (Giants) all have jobs.
It strains credulity in a league where coaches would take 53 ax murderers if they could make the playoffs that there isn’t a direct correlation between Kaepernick’s persona non grata status and his anthem protest.
Many of the arguments used to cloak the driving reason for Kaepernick’s unemployment can be reduced to sophistry.
If it’s about Kap’s losing record, then explain how peripatetic passer Josh McCown keeps getting gigs. McCown has gone 2-20 as a starter the last three seasons and is 18-42 as a starter.
No one seems to hold that record against him because he keeps getting hired. Signed by the Jets, McCown is regarded in NFL circles as the consummate team player and an excellent teammate. Kaepernick is 28-30 in his starts and 4-2 in the playoffs.
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Another rationalization for Kaepernick’s unemployment is that he isn’t a fit for pro-style offenses. He is not an accurate or reliable enough pocket passer, as evidenced by his 59.2 percent completion percentage last season and 59.8 percent career mark. However, that never stopped Tim Tebow from getting job opportunities, including here in New England, where the Patriots indulged him during the 2013 preseason by running plays designed for his skill set.
In seven NFL seasons, (Off the) Mark Sanchez, a purported dropback passer, has completed 56.7 percent of his passes with 86 touchdowns and 86 interceptions. Kaepernick has thrown 72 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions in his career, including 16 TDs and just four interceptions last season on a 49ers team devoid of passing game weapons.
Kaepernick is simply better than the flotsam and jetsam — or Jets some — on some teams’ rosters.
You mean to tell me that if Derek Carr got injured again the Raiders wouldn’t have a better chance of winning a playoff game with Kaepernick than with Connor Cook or Manuel? The same goes for the Cowboys if Dak Prescott got hurt and they had to turn to Kellen Moore. Kaepernick is definitely an upgrade over current Ravens backup and former Patriots mannequin Ryan Mallett.
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Another intellectual countermeasure employed to explain why Kaepernick isn’t employed is that his interest in civil rights and social causes signals to teams that football isn’t important to him. In the NFL, displaying a social conscience isn’t exercising your rights as a citizen. It’s a distraction.
The chilling message the NFL is sending by blackballing Kaepernick is that it’s OK if you engage in domestic violence, abuse animals, or are a recidivist troublemaker who runs afoul of the law as long as you stand for the anthem and display a singled-minded focus on football.
If you want to play in the NFL, you’re better off violating the law than violating the sensibilities of some of your fellow Americans.
Just ask Giants owner John Mara, who told The MMQB that in all of his years in the league he has never received more emotional mail from fans on a subject than about Kaepernick’s peaceful protest of kneeling for the national anthem.
That says more about the moral compass of NFL fans than it does the risk of signing Kaepernick.
They care more about a nationalistic ritual and feel-good flag-waving than the well-being of abused women. The Giants were forced to cut kicker Josh Brown last October after documents revealing that he had admitted to domestic violence came to light. The Giants and their fans had stood behind Brown after his 2015 arrest on domestic violence charges and subsequent 2016 one-game NFL suspension.
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Mara also might be interested to know that, according to NFLShop.com, Kaepernick’s 49ers jersey remained one of the top 25 sellers, as of May. Kaepernick’s jersey ranked 17th, higher than Matt Ryan (19th), Russell Wilson (21st), and Drew Brees (24th).
On a case-by-case basis, there are legitimate football reasons that a club wouldn’t sign Kaepernick. But those shouldn’t be used to cloak the primary reason that all 32 teams are passing on him instead of letting him throw passes for them in training camp.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cgasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper.