Colin Kaepernick’s attorney is mincing no words when it comes to why he believes his client has been kept out of the league. Moreover, he’s not just blaming NFL owners, he’s also blaming President Trump.
Mark Geragos, lead attorney for Colin Kaepernick’s collusion case against the NFL, blamed league owners for “kowtowing” to President Trump, and blocking the former 49er from signing on with a new team.
“The collusion actually was the NFL kowtowing to the president — I think it’s clear,” Geragos said Thursday morning during an interview in on NBC’s Today.
Geragos firmly believes that Kaepernick should have been signed by now because, among other things, his client has remained in “spectacular shape.”
Kaepernick began his anthem protest in the preseason of 2016. However, after that season, the former 49er walked away from his contract with San Francisco. Kaepernick was not re-signed by another club and remains unemployed by the league. In October of 2017, Kaepernick filed a collusion grievance against the NFL. Alleging that the league’s owners conspired to keep him off a roster due to his anthem protests.
According to NBC News:
Among the evidence for collusive activity, Geragos said, is that former 49ers safety Eric Reid, who had joined Kaepernick in his protests, was signed by the Carolina Panthers in September after he filed his own grievance against the NFL.
‘Eric Reid went under oath and actually testified that he would consider alternatives to kneeling,’ Geragos said. ‘Within three days, 72 hours, he had three different teams that were vying for him and to sign him. You tell me how is it that when he testified under oath, and it’s supposedly a private proceeding, three teams knew enough to reach out to his agent what he had said under oath that he would consider alternatives.’
Geragos strongly asserted that Kaepernick still wants to play in the NFL. Though, whether the NFL wants Kaepernick remains a much more open question. In 2018, the player-led anthem protests dissipated to the point where less than a handful of players were regularly protesting in some shape or form. Given that the controversy has largely subsided, it’s unlikely that the NFL would want to re-ignite the issue by bringing back the player who began the protests.
Still, given the dearth of quality NFL quarterbacks, there are some who believe Colin Kaepernick should play in the league, and are dubious of the NFL’s explanations for why he hasn’t.
“There isn’t anyone who has a couple of neurons firing that wouldn’t say this isn’t collusive activity,” Geragos explained.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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