We Need To Talk About Colin Kaepernick

I first want to be clear here: I am not a social justice warrior. This is not a political statement, a dissertation on racial prejudice or how kneeling for the anthem isn’t disrespectful to our military. I honestly don’t care. How about this - as far as I’m concerned Mark Sanchez is an illegal alien. We need to see his birth certificate. Long form. I’M JOKING. But seriously, I could not care less about the implications surrounding Colin Kaepernick. The Redskins need to sign him, and sign him yesterday.

I’ve always been the guy on Facebook justifying the blackballing of Kaepernick because usually teams had prior relationships with the quarterbacks they signed instead, or because the person bitching about Kap not having a job is an Instagram thot who doesn’t know anything about football. I’ve argued that there is no way a franchise would sign a guy who has a collusion lawsuit against the NFL, but that theory sorta went up in smoke when the Panthers signed Eric Reid. But now a perfect storm of calamity has created a confluence of events that can no longer support any argument against signing Colin Kaepernick.

Your top two quarterbacks both break their legs in the midst of a legit playoff season. Your only options at backup are Mark Sanchez - who has played the same number of snaps as Kap in the past two years, and then a list of JAGs (just-another-guys) like EJ Manuel and T.J. Yates. If someone can do the mental gymnastics it takes to explain how Mark Sanchez or any current free agent is a better option at quarterback than Colin Kaepernick, I’d be very interested to hear your argument.

But this isn’t just a matter of signing a better quarterback. At a time when decent teams are starting to gel and make playoff runs, the Redskins are in full regression. They look “flat” - which is a kitschy term for a team that is undisciplined, unprepared and unmotivated. The front offices’ incompetence is on full display as we watch a team whose best players are well over 30 years old, linebackers who can only run downhill and look like college players when running sideline to sideline, a secondary so horribly afraid to square up and make a tackle that they would be benched by any high school coach for being soft, and receivers who haven’t been able to separate from defenders in about five years.

Add that to the lackadaisical approach in not going after legit players like Amari Cooper or Khalil Mack while signing dudes who beat up their girlfriends, and you have not only a mediocre team, you have an unnecessary PR scandal that plays out on national TV on Monday Night Football.

It’s always funny to me that people aren’t ALARMED when a team is talking about how much they love their coach. Jay Gruden is a “player’s coach” which is what we hear over and over in the media - which again - is a kitschy term for a coach that doesn’t hold his players accountable. Do you think anyone on the Patriots LIKES Bill Belichick? Grow up. D.J. Swearinger isn’t just talking out of his ass when he says the team is screwing around too much during practice and they aren’t prepared. The Redskins look out of shape and out of position on defense down the stretch and the offense looks desperate as defensive coordinators have had more film to breakdown a basic offense executed by average players. Hell, if you’re going to sign a guy who beats up chicks, at least get Kareem Hunt and beat a couple people on the field.

And therein lies the rub. Bruce Allen is easily the worst GM the Redskins have ever had. At least Vinny Cerrato drafted some decent athletes. Chris Thompson is probably our best player and he’s a Shanahan guy. I don’t know what Doug Williams does. I don’t understand how the guy you deemed an alcoholic (your leaked words, not mine) was somehow able to put together a better roster and take us to the playoffs in one year, while apparently blacked out, but you’ve been here a decade and all we have to show for it is Vernon Davis and Adrian Peterson - players both born in the 80’s. I don’t think there’s a single team going to the playoffs who has key skill players born in the 80’s. You sign a guy who can’t stay out of trouble or pass a drug test, then you lie about talking to his Alabama teammates, then you double down on the horrible decision making by saying you did your own investigation. Like are we serious here? And now, you have the actual opportunity to improve your team and actually win a few football games and of course you won’t do it. I mean you might, but you’ll handle it so poorly that it will undermine any positive effect it might have on the team or the season.

So I guess this rant really is directed at Dan Snyder, because he’s the only constant in this caravan to the border of irrelevance. Before you fire Jay and let Bruce Allen continue to blackmail you into keeping his job; before you chop another 20,000 seats out of the sad mausoleum that is FedEx Field; before you pretend that you’ve built an organization around any semblance of values or principles or integrity; I urge you to stop for one second to consider if maybe one last splash into the the pool of wacky personnel moves might actually salvage a season on the brink and consider bringing in an athlete who could help the Redskins win games. An athlete whose only crime was a peaceful protest that didn’t jive with the happy-go-lucky, girlfriend beating, murder-y image of the sacred football league. And then Dan, when we fizzle out at 7-9 for the umpteenth time in your ownership tenure, at least you’ll sleep well knowing you actually gave your team the best chance to win down the stretch.

Go sign Colin Kaepernick.

And then go fuck yourself.