Stephen A Smith: ‘Tragic’ That Owners Are Keeping Kaepernick Out of the NFL to Silence Future Kaepernicks

Thursday, Stephen A. Smith weighed in on quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s free agent status as the beginning of the 2017 NFL season looms.

Smith said ESPN’s “First Take” it would be “tragic” if NFL owners kept the 29-year-old quarterback out of the NFL in an effort to silence players from protesting on the field in the future.

“Far beyond the importance of winning, what you’re trying to do by keeping Colin Kaepernick out the game is not just silence him, but silence all those aspiring to emulate Colin Kaepernick,” Smith argued. “It’s a dissuasive measure being exercised by league owners, regardless of what they’re willing to admit. So if they get away with this where Colin Kaepernick is kept out of the league and there is no noise that’s reverberating, then you know what? They’re going to succeed, and suddenly you’re going to hear a lot of folks being very, very quiet and not speaking up about issues, and that would be tragic.”

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