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NFL (National Football League)
Opinion
Patrick Blennerhassett

Opinion | The NFL needs to get Colin Kaepernick playing football again, or else

  • The former quarterback won his media war with the NFL. Now the league needs to do the right thing and find him a team
  • The 31-year-old still has a few years left where he could contribute on the field, and everyone could benefit from his return

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Colin Kaepernick, in a Nike ad, has become a political symbol for racial injustice. Now he wants to play football again. The NFL needs to make this happen. Photo: Handout

This doesn’t get said too often, but it happened: Colin Kaepernick beat the National Football League.

The behemoth corporation, one of the most powerful professional sports leagues in the world, which runs itself like an unflinching, monstrous war machine, lost a PR battle with a soft-spoken 31-year-old Milwaukee, Wisconsin native who has become a symbol for racial inequality.

This week, Kaepernick and former teammate Eric Reid settled a collusion complaint with the NFL dating back to 2016 when the quarterback knelt during the national anthem in protest against social injustice in the United States.

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Money was not disclosed, but it is largely believed the NFL’s hand was forced as damming evidence was soon to be made public if the case went to court, smearing reputations of league officials, owners and coaches who conspired to keep the African-American on the sidelines as a repercussion for taking a knee during The Star-Spangled Banner.

Now the dust has settled, where does this story head? Hopefully in one direction, with Kaepernick pulling a jersey over his shoulders and donning a logo-adorned helmet.

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Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid (left) sent the football world into a political tailspin by kneeling during the national anthem. Photo: TNS
Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid (left) sent the football world into a political tailspin by kneeling during the national anthem. Photo: TNS
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