If Colin Kaepernick has been good at one thing this offseason, it’s helping NFL teams come up additional absurd reasons as to why they shouldn’t sign the former 49ers quarterback.
I’ll preface by saying that some of those “reasons” are legitimate like his alleged asking price and roster demands not matching up with his skill set. Granted this was in part reported by Jason Whitlock so take it for what it is but if true I can see why teams are balking at the opportunity to sign Mr. Kaepernick.
However the latest excuse surrounding NFL teams seeing Kaepernick as a toxic asset is his vegan lifestyle according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Again, an absurd claim when you realize Tom Brady is vegan for “most of the year” and only adds lean meat to his diet during the winter months, a revelation brought forth by Bleacher Report’s Dan Pompei back in January.
Not that you can compare Brady to Kaepernick but Pompei’s January report further illustrates the hypocrisy that lies within front offices across the NFL. Hell the NFL won’t back the claims of teams shying away from Kaepernick due to his national anthem protest last season, something Roger Goodell tried to divert and deflect. This came after Richard Sherman‘s claims that the League was ‘blackballing’ the QB based on his pregame actions in 2016. Via Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com:
“I haven’t heard that from our clubs in any way that that’s an issue,” he said. “My experience in 35 years is that our clubs make independent evaluations of players. They work hard to try to improve their teams. But if they think a player can help improve their team, they’re going to do that.”
I’ll give Goodell this. He’s right in the aspect that teams make their own independent evaluations on players in free agency. Cleveland’s outlook on the market will more than likely be different from that of Seattle’s. But to say Kaepnernick doesn’t have a place in the NFL because of off the field distractions, his ‘vegan lifestyle’ or the fact that he just isn’t any good is asinine. Off field distractions and NFL rosters seem to go hand-in-hand, not to mention team’s signing shitty players. Last I checked Mark Sanchez and Mike Glennon are both still in the League.
