Nationwide the name Colin Kaepernick incites a lot of emotion in people. Where I live locally, the name Ma’lik Richmond does the same. This is a topic that I’ve wanted to address for a long time. I’ve touched on it briefly on social media, but never really went in depth. Like most things, my thought process on this might not be “in line” with the masses on EITHER side of the equation. Which is probably why you’re reading this in the first place.

I’m not going to debate whether or not either situation is “right”, because unfortunately most times in life that’s actually IRRELEVANT. Plus I normally don’t look at things from an “emotional” point of view, I just use logic. I’ll begin with Kaepernick, since that situation has been going on the longest. People have differences of opinion about him kneeling (and not standing), during the National Anthem, in efforts to bring awareness to unarmed people of color being killed by police. Since the off season he has been out of a job. Personally I think Kaepernick is a “bum” at quarterback. His back to back years of dismal performance of my fantasy football teams has strengthened that biased I have against him. If you cost me money, it’s hard for me to actually LIKE you. With that being said, I don’t think he’s the BOTTOM “bum” in the NFL. He’s probably better than at least 10 STARTING QB’s, and definitely better than NON-starters. So I think it’s safe to say that his “unemployment” is NOT about FOOTBALL, but about his “stance”.

Now Ma’lik Richmond is a player on the YSU football team who is causing quite a stir locally. Not to get too deep into specifics, he was convicted of rape in high school, served time, and now wants to join the YSU for college football. Apparently this feeling was MUTUAL, because YSU allowed him on the squad. That’s until some of the public caught wind of this and started a petition to not have Richmond represent YSU on the football field. As signatures of the petition grew YSU issued a statement saying that Richmond would NOT be allowed to participate in football. Though they stopped short of completely kicking him OFF the squad. Whether you feel it’s right or wrong, YSU felt the “backlash” wasn’t worth the “reward” of Richmond playing.

With Kaepernick, whether the NFL owners feel the backlash isn’t worth the reward or THEY simply flat out don’t want him on their team because of him kneeling during the national anthem in efforts to bring awareness to unarmed people of color being killed by police (I keep saying this so that we DON’T overlook the REAL problem), the bottomline is that he’s NOT on a team. I’ve seen people in the public, who support Kaepernick’s stance, say that NFL players should “sit out” in support of Kaepernick. Personally I look at this as a “cop-out”. First off, you don’t know a player’s financial situation to be suggesting what THEY should do. Plus unlike the NBA, they don’t have guaranteed contracts in the NFL, so they have A LOT to lose (as Kaepernick is seeing). But if you support Kaepernick’s stance, what do YOU have to lose by NOT watching the NFL this season? What do YOU have to lose by NOT going to NFL games? You really have NOTHING to lose, yet I’m seeing so many of his supporters “excited” about the start of NFL football. If you wonder why people don’t take your “concerns” seriously, look no further. Like I expressed earlier, I think Kaepernick is a bum at quarterback. And I don’t view his stance in any HIGHER regard than I would if YOU did the same thing. But if someone is being “blackballed” for wanting to bring awareness to people who look like me being killed, the least I could do is NOT watch NFL football this year. Which is EXACTLY what I plan on doing. Yes, I’ll miss out of my annual fantasy football league. Yes, I’ll have to figure out what to do with my Sundays. A SMALL inconvenience for a LARGER cause, if you ask me. Those petitioners were willing to “sacrifice” going to YSU football games for what they BELIEVED in, but you’d rather just be “fake mad” on the internet and not be taken seriously? Good luck…