NFL Execs Offer Colorful Responses to Colin Kaepernick’s Protest

By Sameer Rao Sep 01, 2016

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit down during the national anthem in protest of police violence has upset some people in the NFL.

"I don’t want him anywhere near my team," a front office executive told Bleacher Report. "He’s a traitor."

That executive, and six others, spoke to Bleacher Report under condition of anonymity and surmised that 90 to 95 percent of the league’s front office staff is angry at Kaepernick’s decision. One executive even said that no player has generated this much anger since Rae Carruth, who was sentenced to prison in 2001 for conspiring to murder a woman who was pregnant with his child.

"He has no respect for our country," said one of the executives. "Fuck that guy."

The officials also told Bleacher Report that the controversy might prompt the team to release Kaepernick, which could effectively end his football career. This quote from the article sums up what some see as the hypocrisy of this situation:

"In my career, I have never seen a guy so hated by front office guys as Kaepernick," one general manager said.

This is a league that has signed domestic abusers, accused murderers, players who killed another person while driving drunk and dudes who park in handicap spaces. But Kaepernick is the most hated person he’s ever seen? A nonviolent protest? Really?

The report also cited "people close to Kaepernick" who said that the quarterback expects the 49ers to release him, and others who say he "would then dedicate his life to one of social activism."

Kaepernick’s stance has generated tremendous vitriol, including from the San Francisco Police Officer’s Association. A group of activists protested outside of the union’s headquarters yesterday (August 31), standing with Kaepernick and criticizing the body’s demand for an apology.

"Colin probably has reached a point where he couldn’t take it anymore because as a young person, he himself—if he wasn’t Colin Kaepernick, he could be the victim of a shooting," John Burris, the attorney for Oscar Grant‘s family, said at a press conference during the protest.