I've been asked over and over about the settlement, and who won, and who lost and what it means. With details still so scarce – and perhaps, always so, given the high stakes and confidentiality agreements – and so few individuals truly in the know, I'd caution against anyone throwing figures at a wall and guessing at what the NFL paid to try to put this uncomfortable, unfortunate and easily-avoidable era of football labor history to bed. I'd steer clear of anyone trying to couch it in terms of a financial victory or defeat.
So I won't be going there.
But I do believe there are still some conclusions that can be drawn by the way in which this case finally came to a resolution. As the days have gone by, some thoughts have resonated. And, sadly, I can't quite call anyone a winner in the way in which we usually associate the word with sports.
Kaepernick, undoubtedly, got the league's attention. He forced its massive power structure to deal with him and, for the first time that I can remember, put the commissioner and owners and GMs on the defensive. They were the ones having to sit for hours at depositions and discovery sessions. They had to turn over electronic communications and explain their actions – or inaction when it came to not signing this player – in the way Tom Brady (Deflategate) or Sean Payton (Bountygate) or Bill Belichick (Spygate) or Richie Incognito (Dolphins hazing/bullying case) or Zeke Elliott (domestic violence case) had to in high-profile cases the last two decades.
The NFL couldn't just get system arbitrator Stephen Burbank, a Penn law professor, to throw out the merits of Kaepernick's contentions. It had to spend countless dollars over roughly 16 months to methodically comply with brief after brief and request after request and go through this grievance process. Whether the payout to Kaepernick was measured in seven figures or eight figures, the full costs associated with it for the NFL– financially and from a PR nightmare standpoint – goes far beyond that. Ultimately, the NFL had to reckon with Kaepernick, and this case did not go away until the moment the quarterback was ready for it to do so.
It began on his terms. It ended on his terms.
There is, certainly, a level of vindication in this for him. His cause was always worth fighting for, and Burbank and the NFL cannot dispute that. No one can. His aim was true.
But this was never going to be a fair fight, either.
Kaepernick, 31, is never going to get back those two years of his career. He had to trek around the country as the inquisition of NFL execs unfolded. He, too, had to pay a very real price in terms of the hours and resources required to contend for something that he, rightly, feels was about being blackballed for his politics, and not about football. And now, even the NFL can no longer argue that either; if there was no reason to settle, the league would not have settled. If there was no truth on Kaepernick's side, the lawyers would still be lawyering. This league, and these owners, don't make a habit out of throwing money away as all pursue Goodell's stated goal of pushing revenue beyond $20B a year.
Kaepernick's kneeling became an iconic act, yet he was systematically kept out of the league's broader discussion with it moving forward; he didn't get a seat at the table as the aftermath of the protest was hashed out. That isn't coming back, either. He never set out to be some type of martyr, and through all of this Kaepernick's desire has been to be a professional football player in the best league in the world. That, above all else, was clear to me that night in New York, with this collusion grievance just waiting to be electronically filed with the league on a laptop in Los Angeles.
He can sleep soundly at night, knowing his pursuit was not in vain, and his cause has resonated not just in this country, but around the world. But as of now, there is no storybook ending for the quarterback. And as much as Geragos has suggested a signing is on the horizon, I, frankly, won't believe it until I see it. Fostering an environment conducive to that outcome – and winning the ongoing struggle for hearts and minds inside the league and out – is part of his job.
FULL ARTICLE: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/co...
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