Colin Kaepernick: Will Ending Protest be enough to get him signed?

Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned by an NFL team. Did ending his protest help his cause to get signed or is too late?

There are several teams that still need a starting quarterback or even a quality backup. Colin Kaepernick could give teams an experienced player who could compete as a starter. Also, if the starter went down with an injury, Kaepernick could be a solid backup.

However, teams have been hesitant to pull the trigger on signing him. Colin Kaepernick hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with his play recently. But obviously he’s still a free agent because of his kneeling protest when the national anthem plays.

Kaepernick’s protest started a national conversation about injustice and police brutality. But the NFL received negative publicity as many fans are offended by Kaepernick’s protests. Giants owner John Mara recently said fans threatened to not attend games if they signed him.

More from With the First Pick

The NFL is solely an entertainment property and is heavily dependent on fans being happy with its product. So like it or not, the NFL owners must take the feelings of its fans into consideration.

If you had an employee who was driving away customers, odds are good that you’d fire them. Why? For no better reason than because they were causing you to lose money. It’s business not personal.

But Colin Kaepernick has chosen to stop taking a knee during the national anthem? Are fans now willing to accept him on their team? Some probably would still not accept him but I think many fans would.

I know there are fans out there who support Kaepernick’s protest and feel he shouldn’t have to back down at all. But I think Kaepernick has made his point. He created a national dialogue and used his platform as a professional athlete to bring attention to an issue that needed it.

However, it’s not up to Colin Kaepernick to bring attention to this issue alone. That’s up to all of us. At the end of the day Colin Kaepernick is a football player not a civil rights leader. Football is how he earns a living and it’s time he got back to doing what he does best.

Any way, I still don’t understand how taking a knee during the national anthem equates to fighting injustice and police brutality? It’s a song about a flag and the lyrics are race neutral. It has nothing to do with the police.

Standing during the national anthem is not an endorsement of police brutality or even the police. It’s a display of pride in your country. So while the issues underlying Kaepernick’s protest are completely relevant, I think the manner in which he went about it was ill-conceived.

I’ve seen players take a knee in the end zone after the national anthem is played. Perhaps that could be a compromise Kaepernick could make. Taking a knee doesn’t seem to be the problem but doing it during the national anthem is.

Colin Kaepernick would compromise then maybe teams would alter their stance on signing him. Even the greatest fighters can’t win every fight. Sometimes you have to tap out and live to fight another day.

Next: Seattle Seahawks have forgotten what made them champions

Speaking out against social injustice is important but earning a living and putting food on the table is important too. Whichever one is more important to Colin Kaepernick might determine the future of his NFL career.