The NFL is loaded with all-time talent.
When you think of the history of the sport, you think of Eric Dickerson, Jim Brown, Joe Montana, Deion Sanders, Jerry Rice and, needless to say, Tom Brady. They’re all legends.
But another NFL great had this to say about embattled quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick is just a guy who kneeled during the National Anthem.
He was, objectively, just an above average quarterback at best.
Sure, he took the 49ers to the Super Bowl on the back of (current) Kansas City QB Alex Smith.
But Kaepernick was never a great quarterback in the pocket – meaning, he’s not a pocket passer.
He fumbled constantly, kind of like Michael Vick did, and he is one of the rushing leaders.
And 49ers GM had this to say about Kaepernick’s skills:
“So I don’t want to characterize it as he made a decision to leave here. We both sat down and under that current construct of his deal, it was a big number.
[Coach] Kyle [Shanahan] had a vision for what he wanted to do, and one thing I think Kyle was very clear and I think Colin appreciated, is that Kyle has an idea of how he’d play with Colin Kaepernick.
But he preferred to run the exact offense that he ran in Atlanta last year that was record-breaking in this league. And if you change it for the quarterback, you change it for everybody on that offense.
So he had a great discussion that I think gave Colin clarity, so we moved on. Brian Hoyer was one of the guys we pursued. Once we pursued him, we didn’t see Keap as a backup that would really fit in that scheme and we communicated that to him. So I think we’ve been very up front with it. But I think that is a fair characterization.
Yes, he was not going to be here under the construct of his contract. We gave him the option, ‘You can opt out, we can release you, whatever.’ And he chose to opt out, but that was just a formality.”
It’s clear that Kaepernick had ulterior motives.
And yet a lot of the NFL’s former legends defend him as if he’s a biblical entity.
That includes Shannon Sharpe.
Breitbart reported:
“Fox Sports 1 “Undisputed” co-host Shannon Sharpe believes activist quarterback Colin Kaepernick will go down in history with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali as “mythical figures” for his activism.
According to Sharpe, Kaepernick, who was just named GQ Magazine’s “Citizen of the Year,” may never get the respect “he deserves” for kneeling for the National Anthem, but once history is written 30-40 years down the road he will.
“Maybe Colin Kaepernick will never get the respect that he deserves for what he did, but I believe when it’s all said and done, and history is written 30-40 years from now, Colin Kaepernick will be looked upon as some of these mythical figures of the Dr. Kings and Muhammad Alis and the Rosa Parks,” said Sharpe.
Since the start of his National Anthem protest in 2016, Kaepernick has defended former Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro, worn socks picturing pigs as police officers and his girlfriend suggested the Baltimore Ravens owner was a slave owner when the team signed another quarterback to be Joe Flacco’s backup instead of Kaepernick.”
Kaepernick’s politics became more important than playing the game and that’s the most important aspect to take away from all of this.