Joe Lockhart, the former executive vice president in charge of communications and government affairs for the NFL, dropped a bomb on the world. After witnessing the nation’s current unrest, and his conscious to get the best of him, he admitted that Colin Kaepernick’s activism is the reason why he is not on a team.
READ MORE: Colin Kaepernick to pay legal fees of Minneapolis protesters
According to Lockhart, who now is a political analyst for CNN, “No teams wanted to sign a player — even one as talented as Kaepernick — whom they saw as controversial, and, therefore, bad for business.”
In his piece entitled, “Now is the moment to sign Colin Kaepernick,” he continues to confess what most of Black America has already known: Kap was a thorn in their pig-skinned sides.
Lockhart said that during his time in their public relations arm, league owners and executives were “consumed” worrying what to do about this big afro-wearing negro. The league executives tried to do right by Kap, but the owners would not budge.
Lockhart says, “The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, and other league executives tried to persuade the teams to change their minds. The league sent owners and players around the country to try to lead a dialogue on race relations and to move, as the sociologist and human rights activist Harry Edwards said, ‘from protest to progress.’ Though Kaepernick didn’t get his job back, I thought we had all done a righteous job, considering.”
After spending two years in the precarious position, he believed that of the many different fires he had to put out for the NFL this was the one that was the one that challenged him and his colleagues the most.
“But no issue challenged the league and its owners more than Kaepernick and his silent protest during the National Anthem. He started his protest in the preseason of 2016. In fact, the first time he did it no one even noted that he took a seat on the bench rather than stand.”
READ MORE: Colin Kaepernick says protestors ‘have the right to fight back’ after death of George Floyd
In fact, he said of his position throughout the debacle, as the voice for NFL, was wrong.
“I think the teams were wrong for not signing him. Watching what’s going on in Minnesota, I understand how badly wrong we were.”
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy responded to the article and stated, “Colin is a free agent. Clubs may sign him if they choose to do so.”
Kaepernick has not yet responded to these comments but he has set up a legal defense to help protestors in Minnesota hire representation.
In fighting for liberation there‘s always retaliation. We must protect our Freedom Fighters. We started a legal defense initiative to give legal representation to Freedom Fighters in Minneapolis paid for by @yourrightscamp
For representation or to donate https://t.co/q0pzAObCiG
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) May 29, 2020
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