The NFL is currently in the midst of perhaps its most controversial season in league history. On one side of the boycott, there are fans refusing to watch professional football due to player protests while the other side is doing the same after quarterback Colin Kaepernick was seemingly being blackballed from the NFL.
Although most of the attention has been funneled toward the backlash of player protests, Golden State Warriors veteran forward David West thinks Kaepernick's lack of employment has been the biggest reason for the boycott, according to Konata Edwards of Uproxx:
“That idea is not being talked about enough,” West said. “It’s the other way around. They’re saying people aren’t watching the NFL because guys are protesting
“I’m not sure that the numbers, if we really, really look at who’s watching and who’s not going, I’m not sure that those numbers are the way that they are projecting them to be, in my opinion. I think there are a lot of people who aren’t watching because of the way Colin Kaepernick is being treated.”
There is speculation that the reason he is still without a job is due to his lackluster play prior to his release from the San Francisco 49ers. However, given the current state of NFL quarterbacks, the veteran Kaepernick has undoubtedly proven to be better than some of the starting signal callers still in the league.
The social injustices in today's society has inclined athletes like Kaepernick to use their platform to protest, however, both players and the league have been subjected to scathing criticism. As a result, he has become an unlikely martyr for professional athletes exercising their free speech in spite of the establishment urging them not to.
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