Former pro-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been vindicated — and PAID!
Sports
In what’s being heralded as a stunning decision, Colin Kaepernick reached a financial settlement (rumored to be between $16-18 million dollars) on Friday with the NFL regarding a collusion case against the national football league.
Despite his impressive talents, Kaepernick was effectively blackballed from playing professional football after he began kneeling instead of standing during the National Anthem at football games. According to Kaepernick, he was not disrespecting the flag or his citizenship but was merely attempting to call attention to widespread police violence against black men in America.
In his lawsuit, Kaepernick charged that NFL owners conspired against hiring him because of his social justice stance. The case dragged on for years, however, before they could get to arbitration the NFL agreed to pay Kaepernick (and safety Eric Reid) a lucrative financial settlement for colluding against them. The matter was resolved late Friday and has been marked strictly confidential. In fact, Kaepernick’s attorneys have since released a statement acknowledging that both sides signed a non-disclosure agreement and agreed not to speak publicly about details of the case or the settlement.
“For the past several months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Reid have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the NFL,” the statement said. “As a result of those discussions, the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances. The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement so there will be no further comment by any party.”
The NFL Players Association also released a statement, supporting the settlement between the league and players.
“Today, we were informed by the NFL of the settlement of the Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid collusion cases,” the NFLPA said. “We are not privy to the details of the settlement, but support the decision by the players and their counsel. We continuously supported Colin and Eric from the start of their protests, participated with their lawyers throughout their legal proceedings and were prepared to participate in the upcoming trial in pursuit of both truth and justice for what we believe the NFL and its clubs did to them. We are glad that Eric has earned a job and a new contract [from the Carolina Panthers], and we continue to hope that Colin gets his opportunity as well.”
In light of the settlement and in light of Reid’s hiring by the Carolina Panthers, word on the street is that Kaepernick may soon return to the game that he loves and might also be hired by the Panthers. Allowing a man of his talents to return to the game would be the next right thing to do.
Colin Kaepernick stood his ground and, in the end, he was correct. The league collectively tried to punish him by denying him work due to his stance against police brutality. His silent protest was never about the flag, or allegiance to America as some still assume. However, the NFL’s collusion against him was an infraction of his right to freedom of speech.
In the end, right wins again.
In his lawsuit, Kaepernick charged that NFL owners conspired against hiring him because of his social justice stance. […]
So I’m curious. Now that Colin has accepted a settlement….AND signed a NDA to keep the details hidden (good luck w/that)…what exactly is his current social justice stance?
If given an opportunity to play in the NFL again will he continue to kneel during the anthem? Or does the settlement mean that he’s done with social justice activism?