All Colin Kaepernick needs to do to win his case against NFL owners under the collective bargaining agreement is to prove that two owners colluded in keeping him out of the league. He doesn’t need to prove that all 32 owners gathered and agreed not to sign him.
Kaepernick’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, could also prove that the NFL office and an owner colluded against Kaepernick. Nevertheless, legal experts have said winning the case would be difficult for Kaepernick without a smoking-gun e-mail or taped conversation between colluding parties.
But who is to say that Geragos won’t find such evidence and Geragos, who has defended Chris Brown, Michael Jackson and Barry Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson, probably wouldn’t have taken the case unless he thought he could win.
The preponderance of circumstantial evidence is overwhelming. Arizona, for example, signed Blaine Gabbert as a backup this off-season, even though Kaepernick took over for him last year after he faltered. Kaepernick’s passer rating of 88.9 is far greater than Gabbert’s 71.5. Recently, when Titans worked out quarterbacks in the wake of Marcus Mariota’s injury, the Titans brought in Branden Weeden, a far less accomplished player than Kaepernick.
Geragos is likely to contact Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman, who spoke with NFL executives who said they didn’t want to touch Kaepernick because he took a knee to bring attention the lack of nutrition and opportunity for, in particular, children of color. Freeman threw out a tweet in May saying, “Guys: this is not difficult. Teams are avoiding Kaepernick because they don’t like fact he took knee for anthem. No other reason.
That’s it.”
Freeman then wrote he was inundated with texts and calls from team executives expressing their anger that Kaepernick was disrespecting his country by kneeling.
What’s also interesting about the grievance is the mention of “executive branch.” According Charles Robinson, the grievance said in part, “Respondents (owners) have retaliated against Mr. Kaepernick in response to coercion and calculated coordination from the Executive Branch of the United States Government.”
The players’ union also sent out a press release in support of Kaepernick’s claim. The union would be in favor of a Kaepernick verdict because it would dissolved the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.according to Profootballtalk.com.
Kaepernick continues to be shunned by the NFL. At a meeting Monday of players and the league about anthem protests, Kaepernick was not invited. Garagos sent out a statement addressing the situation.
“Colin Kaepernick was not invited by any official from the NFL or team executives. Other players have wanted him present and have asked that he attend the next meeting with the goal of forging a lasting relationship and faithful consensus around these issues. Mr. Kaepernick is open to future participation on these important discussions.”
