Jay GreesonLosers of four in a row, the San Francisco 49ers have officially turned over the quarterback reins to Colin Kaepernick.
Maybe you've heard of Kaepernick, the nation's most famous back-up quarterback. He has earned that moniker not because of his starter-like salary or even because less than a few years ago, analysts such as ESPN's Ron Jaworski said Kaepernick was going to be the best quarterback in the National Football League.
Nope, by now everyone knows Kaepernick for his pregame decisions way more than his in-game successes and failures.
Kaepernick was a few plays away from winning a Super Bowl in 2013 and getting back there in 2014. At that time, the 49ers gave him a salary that matched his status as a budding quarterback with a promising future on a team on the rise. He got a six-year, $119 million deal heading into the 2015 season with $61 million of that guaranteed. He lost the starting job last year to Blaine Gabbert.
Now, he will get another crack at it this week as San Francisco faces Buffalo on Sunday.
Of course, Kaepernick is a polarizing figure: fan favorite to the point that his jersey has become the most sold in the game and national antagonist to the point that he also was voted the most hated person in the NFL, according to a USA Today poll - because of his protests during the national anthem.
Kaepernick has been steadfast that his protest is about the way police officers treat blacks and not against the military. Well, he can state his intentions about his actions all he wants and his freedom of speech certainly allows him to say and do what he believes, but that freedom doesn't mean freedom from the consequences - both intended and unintended.
His protests have created an avalanche of publicity, and that was with Kaepernick not playing. He has said he believes he has made a huge impact on countless lives by kneeling during the anthem. (I bet the $1 million he donated to charity to put some financial punch to the protest has had a much bigger effect.)
But is all of that impact good?
It's a fair question considering the unintended splashes those ripples have had.
In fact, if the NFL at some point says players can't protest, then would he be willing to lose his job for his right to protest, especially now that he's actually playing? Yes, he has more than $60 million guaranteed, but that figure would be dicey if you violate league demands, right? (And the league has pegged its double-digit dips in all of its prime time TV platforms on all time slots primarily on the presidential election. And that may be the case, but if the election is laying heavy blows to pro football, why are the ratings of college football going up across almost all platforms? Seems the election would be hitting the college game too, right? To think the Kaepernick controversy is not part of the NFL decline is par for the Roger Goodell, head-in-the-sand leadership style, and it seems pretty nonsensical.)
In some ways, the bottoming-out of several promising young quarterbacks over the last several years, including Kaepernick, could be part of the decreased TV numbers. The game can be hard to watch at times because half of the league is struggling to find consistent and quality QB play.
So Kaep now gets the chance to protest as a starter and potentially reclaim some of the starpower he had a few seasons ago. Let Kaepernick find something similar to the success he had in 2012 and 2013 seasons, and the waves of protest will only re-energize, but it could be another star option at QB.
Ripple effects indeed.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.