The NFL preseason has started, and Colin Kaepernick is still unemployed. A rally has been organized outside of the NFL's headquarters in New York, and Spike Lee is it.
FOX Sports 1 analyst Jason Whitlock thinks the protests will actually help Kaepernick get hired. He said he used to be believe the protestors were hurting Kap's cause, but he compared the protests to what Al Sharpton did for Tawana Brawley in the 1980s.
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"This is a shakedown," Whitlock said. "This is an Al Sharpton racial shakedown of the NFL. They are trying through public pressure, through rallies, through everything, to give this guy a roster spot and give him the contract he wants. That's what all this is about. It's a shakedown. Colin Kaepernick is the Tawana Brawley of the NFL."
Whitlock continued and said he doesn't believe Roger Goodell should cave and pressure an owner to give him a job.
"This false narrative that Colin Kaepernick is being mistreated," Whitlock said. "It's a shakedown. I look at people that are starting to fold. There's conversations in my mind that are already going on among NFL ownership and (Commissioner Roger) Goodell. Somebody will give him a job — and this will go away."
Whitlock said if the NFL caves this time, they will continue to do so in the future.
The problem with Whitlock's argument is that Kaepernick should be in the league somewhere, so if the NFL does "cave," they'll be making the right move. Kap threw 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions for a team with one of the worst rosters in the league. He deserves to be in the league somewhere, whether that's as a starter or a backup.
It'd be surprising if Kaepernick didn't end up on a roster at some point this season, regardless of how the protest turns out.
(h/t Sporting News)