While football is as American as apple pie, white picket fences and law enforcement killing unarmed black people, this season has been shrouded with controversy or at the very least several side eyes from fans and activists over Colin Kaepernick not having an NFL team to call home due to his silent protest of the National Anthem.
While many surmise Kaep may never play football again, legendary comedian Chris Rock took to Instagram Saturday (Sept. 16) to brilliantly point out there have historically been other players who have committed far worse atrocities than the 29-year-old, yet have been given second chances to play on the field.
“It’s the fact the there’s a bunch of teams that are an injured quarterback away from there whole season going up in smoke. Cowboys/ raiders / etc. The fact that the good teams don’t want him is the proof. Teams in every sport sign players all the time for the sole purpose of there competition not getting the player, but nobody’s worried about that because they already know he’s not gonna be signed,” Rock commented.
Rock’s defense of Kaepernick comes just one day after Jay-Z performed “The Story of O.J.” at The Meadows Music & Art Festival in Queens. Rock isn’t the first high-profile figure to come to Kaep’s defense. J.Cole has also made it clear he stands with and supports Kaepernick and just last month thousands marched in front of the NFL headquarters in New York for quarterback.
According to CBS, the ratings this season have not been the best. Per the research conducted by analyst Brian Wieser, NFL viewership is down 14% on a year-over-year basis during the first week of the 2017-2018 season. This is the first time its been this low since 2009.