Can we just stop saying "45" for Trump? 45 is Pedro Fucking Martinez, now and forever.
I wish we could pin posts to the top of the forum, so we could pin this one.
Exactly. An offer to play on the condition of "shutting the hell up" is no offer to play at all.
I disagree, I think it depends entirely on what BB defines as a "distraction". For example, I think the following would be a perfectly reasonable arrangement:
- CK kneels during anthem playing to silently continue his protest of police brutality
- CK gives "no comment" to any questions on any political matter
- CK does not post anything on social media that could invite attention on non-football matters
If all of that is true, then he is not distracting the team. I mean, just imagine reporters trying to get a quote out of Belichick on the topic. It's a non-issue unless Kaepernick were to go out of the way to bring further attention on himself beyond the mere protest. And he's got many, many other players who can speak for him and his views on the subject now.
Jim and CD nailed it:
*If* Colin Kaepernick wants to resume his NFL career, and *if* Bill Belichick thinks that could help the team, I would love to see this happen. Not despite CK's notoriety, but because of it. If there is a team in the NFL that is uniquely situated for Kaepernick's situation at this moment in time, it is the New England Patriots. Belichick will not let the circus affect him. Brady and the team would not let it become a distraction in the clubhouse and on the field. The region is socially conscious enough to support this by and large. I'd like to think that Bob Kraft is progressive enough to support this if it's the right move for the team. The story would go away as soon as the first game passes with CK standing alongside his new teammates. I don't see protests happening in Foxboro, and if ignorant people want to protest the Patriots in other cities, well, who cares, they hate the team anyways.
Martellus Bennett had no problem being outspoken last season, Gronk is out there in his own way. The idea that you have to be a robot is overblown
Edit also guys knelt for the anthem and it wasn't an issue.
I doubt Bob Kraft is going to issue an edict to Belichick that he shouldn't sign a player for non-football reasons. I very much doubt he's going to suggest to Belichick that signing him would have a business or non-football value to it that he should take into account. If Belichick tells Kraft "this is the best move for the team" and explains his thinking, we have 17 years of history to suggest that Kraft will absolutely never overrule him. He's a self-important cutthroat businessman but he's
not stupid, certainly far less stupid than the many other owners whose egos periodically compel them to make football decision.
The likeliest path to such a thing here would probably be that if they don't already have their hearts set on Hoyer, they invite a few players in, right now, today/tomorrow, for a workout and essentially open tryouts for the job. If that does happen, and they don't just sign Hoyer sight-unseen, then I could see Kaepernick being one of the invitees. Certainly, if he doesn't get the job after that sort of fair test, nobody could complain that he was unfairly treated.