According to reports (since I’m boycotting the NFL), Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles couldn’t throw a Frisbee into the ocean if he was standing at the shoreline. Sounds like a perfect fit for a free agent quarterback who not only throws the ball with some accuracy but can also run like a gazelle.
Seems like Jacksonville would be the perfect fit for Colin Kaepernick, right?
Which is exactly why the Jaguars signed Ryan Nassib. Yep, Ryan Nassib. Who’s Ryan Nassib? Who the fuck knows. Here’s what I do know about Ryan Nassib without even Googling him to look up his stats: He’s not better than Colin Kaepernick. Not even close. In fact, if he were, then we’d all know who the hell Ryan Nassib is. But we don’t, and we don’t for a reason.
Make no mistake about it: Nassib currently has an NFL home, while Kaepernick is at home, for one reason and one reason only: Kaepernick protested against the deaths of unarmed black men, women and children. If you’re telling yourself anything else, you are lying to yourself.
Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin not only explicitly stated that he didn’t want Kaepernick on his team but also got all indignant and refused to explain why when pushed on the subject.
After watching Bortles and backup Chad Henne struggle during the preseason, Coughlin was asked if he’d considered Kaepernick as a possible addition to the team.
“No, I didn’t,” Coughlin said, according to CBS Sports. “We did the study, the research, and we weren’t interested.”
When asked what they saw in the research that turned them off of Kaepernick, Coughlin said, “I’m not explaining it.”
Seems rather odd that a coach couldn’t explain a football decision. Was it something in Kaepernick’s mechanics? Something in his inability to stay in the pocket?
Had Coughlin’s decision been based on football, it would have been easy to state that he wasn’t bringing Kaepernick in because he didn’t fit his system. Not to mention that Jaguars owner Shad Khan said that he’d “absolutely” be interested in signing Kaepernick, but, he added, the decision would be left up to his football staff.
So, as it stands, Ryan Nassib has a job and Colin Kaepernick is still without a team, but please tell me that these decisions are solely about football. Because if I didn’t know any better, it sounds a lot like Coughlin didn’t want Kaepernick on the Jaguars because Kaepernick had the audacity to buck the system and silently protest black death.
Read more at CBS Sports.