Sportswriter Blames Trump Tweets for Teams Blackballing Kaepernick

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald asks the question: ‘What NFL team will be brave enough (and smart enough) to give Kaepernick a chance?’

The sports writer, therefore, implies that team owners who prefer signing players who respect the National Anthem and don’t wear socks mocking police officers as pigs are cowards and stupid.

Incredibly, Cote blames team owners for not hiring the “healthy” 29-year-old quarterback “coming into his physical prime,” who has “taken his team to a Super Bowl” because they may fear negative tweets from President Donald Trump.

“What are teams afraid of?” Cote asks. “That the Commander-in-Tweet, Donald Trump, might unleash one of his 3 a.m. storms against whatever team signed him?”

Well, if it’s not that then maybe it’s “a small, brief backlash from fans who never understood that Kaepernick kneeling was far closer to patriotism than to treason?”

What? Reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, for Cote, refusing to stand for the National Anthem is really closer to patriotism than to treason. Does Cote also believe that standing for the National Anthem is closer to treason than it is to patriotism?

Of course, Cote doesn’t own an NFL team and will not have to sell season tickets. Nor, will he be concerned with such trivial items as making a profit or filling stadium seats. Obviously, he pays no attention to reports such as this one from CBS in October of 2016:

A fresh poll from Seton Hall surveyed 841 adults across the U.S. Each respondent was asked to identify seven separate factors as a reason for the NFL rating drop, allowing them to answer “yes” or “no” for each of them. The leading factor, according to the poll, was the national anthem protests, which scored “yes” at a rate of 56 percent.

But, Cote says don’t worry about that, because the “closer to patriotic” Kaepernick says he’s done with kneeling during the National Anthem. Interesting how he made that decision now that he is effectively unemployed and looking for another multi-million dollar contract from a team that will give him a place on the bench for the 2017 season and beyond.

So, no more kneeling for Kaepernick now, but as a precaution to any team owner “brave enough and smart enough” to sign him, you might want to check his socks first.