49ers should tell Kaepernick to stand up or get lost
Have you had enough of Colin Kaepernick?
In case you missed it, he’s the San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback who has gotten way too much attention for his posture during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner during the last couple of preseason games.
First he sat. Then he kneeled.
The world is waiting to see how many more NFL players follow his lead when the regular season starts, with all but three openers being played on September 11.
If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell doesn’t have the guts to do it, every NFL owner should require every employee to stand during the playing of the national anthem.
Maybe every NFL team could hold symposiums to review what a major professional sports franchise is all about.
Employees could be reminded that it’s only football and what the GDP does from month to month is 100 times more important than who wins the Super Bowl.
Let’s break down what goes into making a professional sports team successful. A long time ago, somebody came up with the idea of putting a city’s name in front of a team’s nickname in the hopes that the citizens of that city would identify with the team, develop a rooting interest and, you know, buy tickets.
It’s important for the team to have the citizens feel good about the players on the team so they will root for them.
If half of the players in the NFL decided, for whatever reason, to sit during the national anthem, it would make a lot of people like the NFL less.
Some might stop watching altogether.
The 49ers will be paying Kaepernick about $800,000 per week during the season to stand on the sideline with a clipboard, so could we please stop talking about how wonderful it is that he is using his platform to promote social justice?
It’s not his platform. It’s the 49ers’ platform.
Kaepernick is an employee of the 49ers. His boss has every right to tell him sitting and/or kneeling during the national anthem is bad for business and unacceptable.
It’s doesn’t matter how many people agree with his feelings about government oppression and it doesn’t matter if some people think playing the anthem before every game is silly.
The song is going to be played. If Kaepernick doesn’t want to stand, he can call in sick.
The good feelings people have about the 49ers produces the revenue that allows Kaepernick to make $14 million a year. Disrespecting the flag will create bad feelings. NFL football is show business. Fans don’t pay big bucks to have somebody’s political grievances stuck in their faces.
And most people with a brain would have a problem with someone claiming to be upset about an oppressive government wearing a Fidel Castro t-shirt, which Kaepernick chose for his postgame press conference.
The media should have laughed him off the stage. As far as I know, nobody asked him about it.
Unfortunately, a large portion of the national media has been celebrating Kaepernick’s courage for the last two weeks.
It would have taken a lot more courage to take his stand before the 49ers guaranteed him $61 million.
He hasn’t been a good quarterback for a while, but will be on the 49ers’ roster collecting his $14 million for this season.
The 49ers should deactivate him for the opener, not allow him in the locker room or anywhere near his uniform, have security escort him outside and let him protest on his own platform.
I would have cut him by now.
John Steigerwald writes a Sunday sports column for the Observer-Reporter.