Former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kaepernick, has filed an official grievance against the NFL claiming that he is being kept from playing due to collusion by the owners. Kaepernick believes that he is being blocked from the NFL because the owners disagree with his politics following his protest of the National Anthem.
Kaepernick has been a free agent since opting out of his contract at the end of the last season. At the beginning of the season, he kicked off the trend of players kneeling during the National Anthem as means of silent protest and to bring awareness to police brutality toward African Americans.
President Trump jumped into the fray calling for the NFL to fire players who refuse to stand during the anthem, which led to an onslaught of players, coaches, and owners kneeling during the anthem.The NFL players' union said it would support the grievance, which was filed through the arbitration system that's part of the league's collective bargaining agreement.
The NFL player’s union says that they will support the greivance. Kaepernick’s timing is interesting as it comes at a time where many teams are playing their second string quarterbacks due to injuries. It is very likely that Aaron Rodgers will be out for the rest of the season. Kaepernick’s attorney, Mark Geragos said, “"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."
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