Yesterday it was announced that the NFL settled a collusion case filed against them by Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, who is currently signed with the Carolina Panthers. In 2016 Kaepernick began kneeling in protest while the Star Bangled Banner played at the beginning of NFL games and he was eventually blackballed from the NFL for his political ideals, missing the last two seasons.
Mark Geragos, Kaepernicks lawyer, had to prove that NFL teams conspired with one another to keep Kap from playing in the NFL again. While this is very difficult to prove, the NFL must have felt the need to settle in order to save themselves from the bad publicity that would have come from a hearing over the matter. Unfortunately, there are many questions that will go unanswered as a confidentiality agreement has been put in place which prevents any more discussion about the case from both parties. While we will never know the full extent of what the NFL did in order to keep Kaepernick off the field, it is good to know that he is in some ways vindicated, regardless of if he every suits up in a NFL uniform again or not.
Eric Reid deserves more attention for kneeling with his former teammate and continuing to do so despite risking unemployment, being targeted by the NFL, receiving 7 “random” drug tests and dealing with disapproval from some of his peers who pleaded with him to stop. Reid declared that he would continue to protest by kneeling even if signed by a team. In the age of selling out, those of us who still believe in integrity should applaud Reid just as much as we cheer for Kaepernick.
Thoughts Processed 