Six weeks into the 2017-18 NFL regular season and free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick remains unemployed. As a result, the quarterback has filed a grievance against NFL owners for collusion.
Although Kaepernick is not using the NFL Players Association to tackle this issue, he has hired Mark Geragos of Geragos & Geragos, who confirmed the filing Sunday night in a statement.
“We can confirm that this morning we filed a grievance under the CBA on behalf of Colin Kaepernick. This was done only after pursuing every possible avenue with all NFL teams and their executives,” the statement read.
“If the NFL (as well as all professional sports leagues) is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful political protest—which the owners themselves made great theater imitating weeks ago—should not be punished and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the Executive Branch of our government. Such a precedent threatens all patriotic Americans and harkens back to our darkest days as a nation. Protecting all athletes from such collusive conduct is what compelled Mr. Kaepernick to file his grievance.”
“Colin Kaepernick’s goal has always been, and remains, to simply be treated fairly by the league he performed at the highest level for and to return to the football playing field.”
According to reports, the new legal docs accuse the NFL and its owners of colluding to “deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment in retaliation for Mr. Kaepernick’s leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States.”
The quarterback has been out of a job since opting out of his contract with the 49ers. Thinking he would be picked up by another team after his performance last season, Kaepernick’s extended employment has led many to believe that he is being blackballed for his protest against racial inequality and police brutality. Even after reaching out to all 32 teams, he has yet to be picked up.
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