Fans threaten boycott of NFL if Colin Kaepernick isn’t signed to a team for upcoming season
Up until very recently, most of the public comments covered by the media regarding Colin Kaepernick not standing for the National Anthem leading up to an August 2016 pre-season San Francisco 49ers’ game have been negative, as in anti-Kaepernick. Many fans disapproved of the quarterback not standing up even though Kaepernick explained that he did it in support of his race who he felt was being oppressed and abused by police. But now there’s a backlash in Kaepernick’s favor with individual fans and some organizations threatening to boycott the NFL if he doesn’t get signed to a team for this coming season.
Those fans have started a change.org petition and a Facebook page calling for that boycott and say that they believe Kaepernick is being blackballed. As of this writing, the #NoKaepernickNoNFL petition has garnered slightly less than 60,000 supporters. MSN shared a portion of the narrative that supports the petition:
“We understand (the) NFL is very important to you. We also understand the purpose of Colin Kaepernick’s protest is FAR more important than any games you will ever watch,” the petition reads. “Simply put, if things stay the same for the way America – where ‘all men are created equal’ – treats people of color, then your loved ones, friends, and children will eventually be affected as well.”
Fans supporting the movement are threatening not to watch any more NFL games and not to purchase any more NFL merchandise until Kaepernick hooks up with a new team. Fox News reported on August 5 that Shaun King, a writer for The New York Daily News, announced earlier last week that he was already boycotting the NFL for blacklisting Kaepernick. King is also a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement. King feels that Kaepernick hasn’t been signed by a team for the upcoming season “because of racism, bigotry and discrimination,” according to Fox.
With Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco sidelined with a back injury, Kaepernick has been in discussions with Baltimore for a possible signing. Ravens’ Coach John Harbaugh spoke highly of Kaepernick and seemed to think he’d make a good fit in Baltimore, to the dismay of some Baltimore fans and Ravens’ owner Steve Biscotti who “is putting up resistance to signing Kaepernick. The team has denied that,” according to CBS News in Baltimore. Reportedly, Kaepernick assured the Raven’s leadership that if they signed him, he wouldn’t be doing any protesting.
Written by: Ace News Today Staff
