I'd be lying if I said I didn't see this coming. Antonio Brown was getting too much press for his antics, so Colin Kaepernick had to do something. Because Heaven forbid Colin Kaepernick not be the center of attention! (Seriously, can they both just go away?)
Since Kaepernick refuses to let it go and accept the reality that he's never going to play in the NFL again, his "team" felt the need to issue a press release entitled "Facts to Address the False Narratives Regarding Colin Kaepernick." Of course, plenty of people on social media ate it up. His supporters immediately jumped to his defense, using this as further "proof" that he's "better" than a number of backups or the replacement options teams have considered for their injured starting quarterbacks.
The "statement" starts with "For Immediate Release" as if it was coming from a news bureau, which is only the start of how ridiculous the whole thing is. You "released" it on freakin' Twitter for crying out loud! (Although, when Colin Kaepernick is involved, ridiculous is normal, so we shouldn't have really been surprised.) Then the introduction states: "There have been so many false narratives in the media regarding Colin, we believe it is important to set the record straight, again. Nothing below is up for interpretation or debate, it's the truth and nothing else."
Except their definition of "truth" is just that. An interpretation. Problem is, their interpretation isn't the only one. I always say, "Your perception is your reality," and that's exactly what Kaepernick's "statement" is. It's their perception, thus it's their reality. Not everyone shares their perception, though, so you can't classify the two pages of stats that you think are so impressive as "the truth and nothing else." Because it's completely open to interpretation.
Not to mention the fact that some of these "facts" are either one-sided or completely wrong. For starters, it talks about how he fits into most teams' "systems" because he played in the West Coast Offense under Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh is currently the head coach at the University of Michigan! They're correct in that many teams adapt their offense to their quarterback's strengths, but the next sentence completely contradicts that entire point. It states, "Colin has the same skill set as many of the young mobile quarterbacks flourishing in the NFL right now." Kaepernick is 31! That isn't young!
Next, there's the point where they offer their "proof" that he still wants to play: "He has been working out five days a week, for three years, in preparation to play again." If he wanted to play so badly, why didn't he sign with the AAF, where he would've been the league's star attraction? Ditto about the XFL. I'm sure he'd be welcome in Canada, too. This isn't about playing. It's about playing in the NFL. There are plenty of opportunities for him to play if he actually wanted to. But that doesn't fit the narrative.
My favorite part, though, was page 2 with all the stats designed to show us how awesome a quarterback he is. Except they're not nearly as impressive as they'd like us to believe. Most of the stats they site came from 2016, his last year in the NFL. He put up those numbers for a 49ers team that went 2-14, with both of their wins coming over the Rams (they went 1-10 in his 11 starts). Most of those games were not close. So it's not exactly like he was leading this offensive juggernaut that was putting up an insane amount of points week after week.
They also felt the need to include that "Despite having to recover from three surgeries during 2016, Colin immediately started once healthy and was never beaten out by any other quarterback on the roster." The other quarterbacks on the 2016 49ers were Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder, who aren't exactly Tom Brady and Drew Brees. And no one's arguing that either Gabbert or Ponder is better than Kaepernick. On a team with those three options, he should be the starter. If he'd been beaten out by either of them, they'd have absolutely no argument instead of the weak one they currently have.
Yet, despite how "great" he was in 2016, the 49ers were still planning on cutting Kaepernick. And that decision had nothing to do with his protest. The fact is that after his flash-in-the-pan 2012 season where the 49ers went to the Super Bowl, his numbers got progressively worse every year after that. So did the team's record. There were plenty of performance-related reasons for San Francisco to want to go in a different direction. But, again, that doesn't fit the narrative.
Neither does the fact that all of his playoff exploits (a 4-2 record, two NFC Championship Game appearances and a berth in Super Bowl XLVII) all took place during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Which means that over his final four seasons in San Francisco, the 49ers not only didn't win a playoff game, they didn't even play in any. It's also conveniently omitted that the 49ers also made it to the NFC Championship Game in 2011, the year before Kaepernick became their starting quarterback, which tells me it wasn't just him. Except that doesn't fit the narrative either.
And, just in case the delusional point about his age and ability hadn't been hammered home enough in this absurd Twitter post, the conclusion reiterates it one more time: "In summary, it is difficult to think of another young player in NFL history with statistics and character as impressive as Colin's not being given an opportunity to earn a spot on an NFL roster after what he has accomplished."
First off, he isn't young. He started a Super Bowl against an opponent that has already put two players in the Hall of Fame. Second, he last threw an NFL pass in 2016. If a team, any team, wanted him, he would've had an opportunity by now. But that ship has sailed. And it's also delusional to think that after all this time, he'd simply pick up right where he left off (which wasn't as great in reality as it was in his head). You can't let that get in the way of a good narrative, though.
Bottom line, it's been three years! And we're still talking about the same damn thing! NOBODY is going to change their mind! Either people support him and his "cause" or they got tired of him and this whole ordeal a long time ago. And, quite frankly, a lot of people on both sides don't even care anymore! (Although they did successfully get me to devote another blog post to this stupid topic.)
All Kaepernick and his people are doing is beating a dead horse. And, no matter how hard you beat it, that dead horse ain't coming back to life!
No comments:
Post a Comment