Colin Kaepernick Has Filed a Grievance Against NFL for Collusion

There's not much to be said about this one except, do you think he's right? Post a comment below.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL, alleging the owners colluded to keep him out of the league because of his protests during the playing of the national anthem before games.

The grievance alleges the league's owners "colluded to deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment rights in retaliation for Mr. Kaepernick's leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice."

The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Instead of filing the grievance through the NFL Players Association, Kaepernick has hired attorney Mark Geragos, who has represented several high-profile clients, including Michael Jackson, former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield and musician Chris Brown.

Geragos said in a statement given first to ABC News Sunday night that the grievance was filed "only after pursuing every possible avenue with all NFL teams and their executives."

Kaepernick's goal, he said, was just to be treated fairly and to return to playing football in the NFL, "the league he performed at the highest level for."


The NFL Players Association said in a statement that it had been in contact with Kaepernick for the past year about his options, but only today learned he had decided to file the grievance, through media reports.

"Our union has a duty to assist Mr. Kaepernick as we do all players and we will support him," the statement said, adding that the union is scheduling a call with his advisers for early this week.

Kaepernick, who has not been with an NFL team since he severed his contract with the 49ers in March, began his silent protest of kneeling during the anthem in the 2016 preseason. He told the media he was protesting against the treatment of blacks in the United States.

Some other NFL players followed his lead during the 2016 season, drawing a mixed response from football fans and the general public, with some supporting the protest and others not.

But Kaepernick's most visible impact seemed to come at the start of this season, even though he himself had not been signed to a team, after President Trump at a campaign-style rally in Alabama slammed NFL players who participate in the protest.

from Business Insider

The president told the crowd at the rally on Sept. 22 that teams should fire players who kneel during the anthem.

from USA  Today

In response at NFL games over the next few days, many more players kneeled during the anthem or locked arms with teammates and in some cases also with their team's owners.

In his statement, Geragos did not name the president, but referred to Trump's call for protesting players to be fired, saying: "Athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the executive branch of our government. Such a precedent threatens all patriotic Americans and harkens back to our darkest days as a nation."


ABC News' Sunny Hostin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the blog author, and in no way express the views of ABC, USA Today, Business Insider, Blogger, Google or any other entity (i.e. news services) whose content and/or services may have been accessed for use in this blog. 

Pat Robertson blames the Vegas mass shooting on Democrats & the NFL

What kind of Christian blames people for an act of God? God does not punish a group of people who've done nothing because of the acts of another group of people. If God felt that the people protesting the injustice and inequality in this country were doing something so wrong that it deserved Him stepping in, He'd punish them, not a group of people who had nothing to do with it. Pat Robertson, have  you still not learned??

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, accompanied by Rev. Pat Robertson, gives a thumbs up to the crowd after speaking at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016. AP Photo/Steve Helber

Televangelist Pat Robertson is known for his kooky statements. He ran for President in 1991 and lost, but in the days of Trump he might have had a shot.

Best known for blaming LGBT people for natural disasters, this time Robertson stooped to a new low. He blamed the worst mass shooting in American history – with over 58 dead and 500 wounded – on democrats and the NFL according to Right Wing Watch.

Related: Pat Robertson: People protesting Trump are ‘revolting against God’

“Violence in the streets, ladies and gentlemen. Why is it happening?” he asked. “The fact that we have disrespect for authority; there is profound disrespect for our president, all across this nation they say terrible things about him. It’s in the news, it’s in other places. There is disrespect now for our national anthem, disrespect for our veterans, disrespect for the institutions of our government, disrespect for the court system. All the way up and down the line, disrespect.”

“Until there is biblical authority,” Robertson continued, “there has to be some controlling authority in our society and there is none. And when there is no vision of God, the people run amok … and we have taken from the American people the vision of God, the whole idea of reward and punishment, an ultimate judge of all our actions, we’ve taken that away. When there is no vision of God, the people run amok.”

Dozens of players kneel, coaches link arms in solidarity as Trump asks NFL teams to ‘fire or suspend’ protesting players

So, now #hesnotmypresident has gotten involved in sports. He's decided that everyone who 'takes a knee' (bends down on one knee during the National Anthem  as a form of protest against this country's treatment of minorities) should be suspended or downright FIRED! This man has no sense of diplomacy, no tact, no common sense; even I, with no political experience  whatsoever can see that this is not the way the President of the most influential country on the planet should be behaving. He's swearing at people on a public social media platform; the fact that he takes to  Twitter at all to make his pronunciations   should be enough to make even the Neanderthals who voted for him queasy.     

    SOMERSET, N.J. — As President Trump called for NFL owners to suspend or fire players who protested the national anthem, players and coaches answered defiantly Sunday morning, with most members of the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars either standing with their arms locked in solidarity or taking a knee on the field.        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
I have to interject here. IMO, the author of this Washington Post news article is misrepresenting what the players being discussed are doing. They are not protesting the National Anthem. To say that they are protesting a song is trivializing the whole movement and making them look like children having a temper tantrum. To my (and other's)  way of thinking, the players are not protesting the anthem, they are protesting during the anthem. (While on the subject of children having temper tantrums, what about what happened with  Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry and his team? Since, during an interview, Stephen Curry didn't act enthusiastic about going to the White House, the president decided to punish the team by stating  "Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!"  in a tweet! How's that for childish temper tantrums?)

Ravens Coach John Harbaugh joined his players, locking arms, and Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, a Pakistani American billionaire and businessman, joined his players before the game's kickoff at 9:30 a.m. in London's Wembley Stadium. Ravens Hall of Famer Ray Lewis also took a knee during the anthem.

The dramatic show of defiance comes hours after Trump on Sunday morning renewed his demand that NFL owners fire or suspend players who kneel during the national anthem in protest, again urging that fans should boycott the sport to force change.

“If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast,” Trump wrote. “Fire or suspend!”

“NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN,” he continued in a second tweet. “Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.”

The tweets continue a three-day crusade by the president to pressure the league to fire players who have taken a knee to protest police violence against minorities. Trump has poured fuel on the flame of a simmering culture war and has further pushed sports deep into the political arena.

Among players, coaches and team owners, the public reaction has been sharply negative of his comments.

Even a close friend, Patriots CEO and Chairman Robert Kraft, who donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration, issued a sharply worded statement Sunday morning that condemned his comments and supported the right of players to peacefully protest “in a manner that they feel is most impactful.”

“I am deeply disappointed by the tone of the comments made by the President on Friday,” Kraft said. “I am proud to be associated with so many players who make such tremendous contributions in positively impacting our communities.

“Their efforts, both on and off the field, help bring people together and make our community stronger,” he added. “There is no greater unifier in this country than sports and, unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics.

“I think our political leaders could learn a lot from the lessons of teamwork and the importance of working together toward a common goal,” Kraft continued. “Our players are intelligent, thoughtful and care deeply about our community and I support their right to peacefully affect social change and raise awareness in a manner that they feel is most impactful.”

           (to read more...)

Article by  Abby Phillip and Cindy Boren

Washington Post - September 24, 2017

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the blog's author, and in no way express the views of The Washington Post, Blogger, Google or any other entity (i.e. news services) whose content and/or services may have been accessed for use in this blog.