Eagles defensive end Chris Long was one of the first white NFL players to lend support to black players who were protesting the national anthem. Now, Long has taken to Twitter to lend support to the NFL’s original anthem protester.
The Seattle Seahawks had planned a workout for Colin Kaepernick on Monday, but, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Seahawks canceled the visit after Kaepernick refused to cancel his protests:
After arranging for Colin Kaepernick to work out for the Seahawks this week, Seattle postponed the trip when the quarterback declined to stop kneeling during the national anthem next season, league sources tell ESPN.
More ahead on NFL Live now.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 12, 2018
On Friday, the day after news of the Kaepernick workout cancellation broke, the Seahawks signed quarterback Stephen Morris. Also on Friday, Eagles defensive lineman Chris Long ripped the Seahawks on Twitter for canceling Kaepernick’s workout:
So let me get this straight: SEA scheduled a workout w Kaep and 2 weeks later, cancels it on the grounds of social activism knowing full well what the fall out would be?
— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) April 12, 2018
It’s unclear what the “fallout” actually is at this point. Other than athletes and sports media members raging on social media, there doesn’t appear to be any substantive consequence to Seattle canceling the workout. Though, perhaps it’s too early to tell.
Long continued:
We know for a fact CK is being blackballed, but this lack of subtlety from an org like them would be shocking.
— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) April 12, 2018
And if it’s true…. wow… talk about not thinking it through.
— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) April 12, 2018
To be clear, the Seahawks had interest in Kaepernick. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have scheduled the interview. If reports are accurate, Kaepernick was on the cusp of being given an opportunity to play for an NFL football team. The only reason that opportunity went away, was because Kaepernick refused to confine his political activism to activities away from football.
The opportunity was there for Kaepernick to be an activist and a quarterback, all he had to do was devote Sunday and the occasional Thursday and Monday to football, exclusively, and he could have protested when not playing.
However, because of his insistence that he be allowed to use the NFL as a prop for his political activism, he is, and likely will continue to be, unemployed.
Kaepernick blackballed himself, the league did not blackball Kaepernick. And the “fallout” from that will likely continue to be the end of Kaepernick’s ability to make a living as a professional football player, and nothing else.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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