I hate to say this, really hate to say this, but with the Bills' loss of Tyrod Taylor and their 3rd string QB to concussions, I could see the possibility of them signing him. They both have similar playing styles of which the offense is built around.

Please don't let it be so...

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:
I hate to say this, really hate to say this, but with the Bills' loss of Tyrod Taylor and their 3rd string QB to concussions, I could see the possibility of them signing him. They both have similar playing styles of which the offense is built around.

Please don't let it be so...

Similar to the NFL strong arming the Ram's into drafting Michael Sam in the 7th round of the 2014 draft, behind the scenes pressure will be heavy to get Kapernick signed by someone before the beginning of the season.

Buffalo NY doesn't seem like a city full of fans that will rush to support Kaepernick if he chooses to kneel for the National Anthem again.

quote:

Originally posted by gw3971:
Kap has had his 15 minutes of fame. If he provided a chance to win somebody would have signed him. I don't know what the racial breakdown is in the NFL but I'm betting that African Americans make up more that 50% of the league. Considering they are only 15% of the population they are plenty well represented.

Right you are.
Blacks make up 13% of the U.S. population and about 70% of the NFL roster. The NFL fan base, meanwhile, is 83% white. The raison d'être for this latest battlefield in America's culture war is that some black players see the NFL as a platform for social change. Many of their fans, conversely, do not.

August 30, 2017
The NFL between a Rock and a Hard Place
By Jeff Goodson

For those watching the latest iteration of America's culture wars, the player protests in the National Football League are an object lesson in cultural insurgency.

The whole thing started last year when San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat out the traditional pre-game playing of the National Anthem. Fans, outraged that he wasn't fired outright or at least benched under a "sit for the Anthem, sit for the game" policy, abandoned pro football in droves. Kaepernick was released by San Francisco later in the year, and since then, no other NFL team has picked up his contract.

Now both the NAACP on one side and pro football fans on the other are calling for a boycott of the NFL. This has put the League in a "damned if you, damned if you don't" situation and given it a headache of Solomonic proportions.

A Platform for Social Change

The National Football League is a true meritocracy. Blacks make up 13% of the U.S. population and about 70% of the NFL roster. The NFL fan base, meanwhile, is 83% white. The raison d'être for this latest battlefield in America's culture war is that some black players see the NFL as a platform for social change. Many of their fans, conversely, do not.

Twelve NFL teams have now accommodated players who disrespect America by sitting, kneeling, raising fists, or turning their backs during the National Anthem. By the end of 2016, the list included San Francisco, Denver, Kansas City, New England, and Tampa Bay. This year – barely halfway through the pre-season – seven additional teams have put themselves on what some fans think of as the "NFL do not watch" list: Cleveland, Seattle, Oakland, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Tennessee, and Los Angeles.

It's no surprise that Colin Kaepernick is still unemployed. Nor that other black players are unifying behind him. Nor that, in an attempt to convince America that the protest isn't racially motivated, white players have been urged to join in. The Cleveland Browns finally succeeded when white wide receiver Seth DeValve provided racial cover by kneeling for the Anthem along with twelve black teammates on August 21.

Black player support for the protests, however, is far from unanimous. Five-time Pro Bowler LeSean McCoy pushed back, saying, "In this country, you can believe what you want, but I think maybe they could choose a better platform to state their beliefs." Famous MVP and Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown also pushed back, admonishing Kaepernick by saying, "I'm an American – I don't desecrate my flag and my national anthem." When Brown talked to Cleveland players after the protest on August 21, it had some effect: the players stood for the Anthem at the next game but still locked arms in solidarity.

Blowback from the Fans

Kaepernick's disrespect last year caused a large number of football fans to stop watching the NFL. In October 2016, a Seton Hall poll of 841 adults found that overall, NFL ratings were down about 12% year over year, including 24% for Monday night football, 19% for Sunday night football, and 18% for Thursday night football. It also found that 56% of fans blamed the ratings falloff primarily on the National Anthem protests.

NFL management, meanwhile, stuck their heads in the sand and blamed the ratings debacle on everything from the presidential election to domestic violence, and from baseball to concussions. They blamed everything, that is, except for what they could have learned at any sports bar in America – pro football fans were fried at Kaepernick's disrespect for the country.

A more in-depth survey by J.D. Power and Associates in July found that most fans – 26% of 9,200 surveyed – still cited the Anthem protests as the main reason for walking away from the League in 2016. Others cited NFL image problems and game delays (24%), too many commercials (20%), and the presidential election (16%).

It isn't clear whether fans are abandoning the NFL altogether or just watching their home team or boycotting "do not watch" teams. But on the street, blowback from fans on social media has been personal, racial, and intense. Some fans posted videos of themselves burning Kaepernick jerseys, and even arch-liberal Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was quoted as criticizing Kaepernick's Anthem protest as "dumb and disrespectful."

The Squeezing of the NFL

All of this puts the NFL between a rock and a hard place. Even before the 2017 pre-season is over, a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Alabama accused the NFL of racism and announced a pro football "blackout." Two sports bars in Chicago are also boycotting NFL games until Kaepernick gets a job, and the NAACP has threatened a similar boycott.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the TV set, fans are up in arms. In the wake of Cleveland's show of disrespect on August 21, social media lit up. A local VFW post in Strongsville, Ohio (Post #3345) announced that it would no longer show Cleveland Browns games, and Ohio Supreme Court justice Bill O'Neill announced a boycott of the Browns, calling the player protest an attack on the military.

At the end of the day, black players want social change, and fans want football without the anti-America politics. The NFL just wants the problem to go away. It remains to be seen how many teams will join the "disrespect America" protests in 2017, and how many fans will respond with their clickers instead of watching their favorite sport become a political football in America's new culture wars. It also remains to be seen how the NFL will stop hemorrhaging both viewers and advertising revenue.

There's a lot at stake, and it's not just money. One more season of this, and we'll have a better idea of whether professional football in America has crossed the Rubicon. And a better idea of where America's culture wars are heading.

The author, a lifelong Dallas fan, still watches the Cowboys – at least for now.

http://www.americanthinker.com...nd_a_hard_place.html

I was an NFL fan until I realized what taxpayers were being asked (forced) to pay to subsidize these billionaires. If voting NO to subsidized stadium deals doesn't seem to get the attention of the owners and the politicians, perhaps turning off the TV will.

When the NAACP calls for proper punishments and actions when a 'role model' in the league publicly behaves badly, then they have a right to complain about this faux outrage. Well, actually, still not really but they need to at least pretend to sit on both sides of the coin.

I hope they do boycott. I hope all the black players who support the NAACP on this walk out. Let them all get removed from the league. Makes more room for players who actually want to play rather than cry about social justice.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by gw3971:
Now both the NAACP on one side and pro football fans on the other are calling for a boycott of the NFL. This has put the League in a "damned if you, damned if you don't" situation and given it a headache of Solomonic proportions.

BS. NFL could have put a stop to this by telling Kap, as well as the rest of the SJW's in the league that if they want to protest, to do so on their own time. Not while they're at the game or in a uniform representing the league. But they didn't. This is entirely of their own making. So Kap "protesting" is okay, but the Dallas Cowboys wearing a sticker to honor the Dallas PD for their deeds protecting protesters while that insane guy started shooting wasn't. The NFL has taken a side in this "culture war". Now they can reap the dues of having done so. They will no longer reap any viewership from this household.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
Paging Al Sharpton, paging Al Sharpton. Please pick up the courtesy phone.

Afraid to mention the color of the courtesy phone, are ya? Racist!

quote:

Originally posted by XinTX:
BS. NFL could have put a stop to this by telling Kap, as well as the rest of the SJW's in the league that if they want to protest, to do so on their own time. Not while they're at the game or in a uniform representing the league. But they didn't. This is entirely of their own making.

This ^^^^^

quote:

Originally posted by XinTX:
The NFL has taken a side in this "culture war". Now they can reap the dues of having done so.

I don’t watch football or other such sports, but that sums up the situation perfectly. Any sensible manager from a corporal squad leader up knows the dangers of not anticipating where things could go and nipping them in the bud. Someone will always control things in any organization: If it’s not the boss(es), someone else will take over the task.

My gut reaction is - we really need to stop making sports out to be more than it is. A fun past-time - no more, no less.

It's not noble. Not heroic. Not life-altering in any way. Just a welcome distraction to help pass the time. Some good-natured competition.

I really dislike how the NFL tries to hitch itself to social change, 'Support the Military', the United Way, kids programs, Stop Domestic Violence, etc. I do not get my moral fabric from the NFL or professional athletes.

They are no more 'spokes-persons' for that stuff than the average man on the street is.

Just go out there, play, get paid, and shut up.

-------------------------------

For many reasons, Aaron Rodgers can eat a bag of dicks. Here's one more:

Aaron Rodgers says Colin Kaepernick should be on a roster but isn’t because of protests

Enjoy playing in the Central Division dumbass. Most of us Midwesterners take the whole "standing for the flag" thing pretty serious. I'm sure your Packer coaches are thrilled that you decided to take a stand on this.

Bet they get all ra ra patriotic on their Sept 11 game.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
For many reasons, Aaron Rodgers can eat a bag of dicks. Here's one more:

Aaron Rodgers says Colin Kaepernick should be on a roster but isn’t because of protests

Just another commentary from those who ignoring or, minimizing all the other things Kaepernick has done...like wearing a Catro shirt in Miami, then commenting on the good things he's done during a press conference, wearing cop-pig socks during practice, his girlfriend spouting off racial invectives to NFL owners, half-truth, ham-fisted statements via Twitter. Seriously, all these 'supporters' have simply said, yeah but....
Hitler built some awesome highways and got everyone educated with health care; Mao stopped all the fighting and put a halt to the revolution; Ho Chi Minh unified all of Vietnam....

The NFL has every right to make a clear statement that they are not a launch pad for every players political beliefs and activism. It exists to promote the game, and the teams. The bottom line is that his antics are a distraction that causes them headaches. Cut you headaches, that is just business.

As a side note, there are tens of thousands of highly talented people in the US that are under employed or unemployed because they are a major pain in the butt to their employers. You are not alone football boy.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
For many reasons, Aaron Rodgers can eat a bag of dicks. Here's one more:

Aaron Rodgers says Colin Kaepernick should be on a roster but isn’t because of protests

Just another commentary from those who ignoring or, minimizing all the other things Kaepernick has done...like wearing a Catro shirt in Miami, then commenting on the good things he's done during a press conference, wearing cop-pig socks during practice, his girlfriend spouting off racial invectives to NFL owners, half-truth, ham-fisted statements via Twitter. Seriously, all these 'supporters' have simply said, yeah but....
Hitler built some awesome highways and got everyone educated with health care; Mao stopped all the fighting and put a halt to the revolution; Ho Chi Minh unified all of Vietnam....

I would feel the same way about this if it were Brady saying this. (I'm a Brady/Belichick fan).

Pro athletes (like Hollywood actors) have this belief that the average person wants their opinion on politics and social justice. No sir, I pay a LOT of money towards my sports entertainment to escape from those topics and watch highly talented athletes (and actors) to perform their jobs at a high level and entertain me. I do not want to be distracted by knowing that the person I am rooting for on the field, or trying to connect with on the screen, spends their off time espousing political views that I may or may not agree with.

so has the boycott started yet...was just wondering if I should tune into the Raiders game

The NFL has made its bed with him (and those who are picking up his ball)--now they can lie in it. It matters not to me--I have never watched or attended a professional football game, and don't intend to.

flashguy

When Kaepernick started this nonsense, I could tell when it was going to lead. No more NFL for me.

quote:

If voting NO to subsidized stadium deals doesn't seem to get the attention of the owners and the politicians, perhaps turning off the TV will.

Once advertising revenue declines to a painful level, then and only then will the NFL change its tune. Revenue drives all decision-making.

Aside from the money involved, sorts is entertainment.

If the entertainment value is deminished, so is its purpose.

A boycott is a self inflicted injury to the people they feel they are standing up for.

Shit in your rice-bowl?