If you ever find yourself out of a job in your chosen profession, just claim that it’s all part of a conspiracy theory to ruin your life.
That’s what unemployed quarterback Colin Kaepernick is claiming in the lawsuit he, and celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, have brought against the National Football League (NFL).
According to ESPN NFL analyst Adam Schefter, owners of NFL teams will “be deposed and asked to turn over all cellphone records and emails in relation to the Colin Kaepernick collusion case against the NFL.”
Geragos is the same attorney who defended Scott Peterson in the trial over the murder of Peterson’s pregnant wife, Laci.
Not to justify the action should it be true, but even if the owners have colluded to keep Kaepernick out of the NFL, they own teams and can select their employees partly based on what they want their team’s image to be. If you employ a bunch of protesters, fans will turn away from your product, as evidenced by the recent slip in NFL television ratings. People watch sports to be entertained by extraordinary athletic feats, not to watch somebody claim they're discriminated against while being paid millions to play a game. If you want partisan politics, just turn on the news.
The list of owners to be deposed is as follows, according to a league source Schefter cites:
- Jerry Jones - Dallas Cowboys
- Robert Kraft - New England Patriots
- Bob McNair - Houston Texans
- Paul Allen - Seattle Seahawks
- Jed York - San Francisco 49ers
“The fact that it is the legal exercise that it is, I can't comment and wouldn't comment about any aspects of it," Jones, who has been up and down about the protests, said. "Having said that, I just have to leave it at that. You might have heard me say some things before the suit, but right now, it's pretty much limited.”
Essentially, Jones is saying for people to mind their business until the facts on the case are allowed to come out.
ESPN also reported on exactly why Kaepernick is suing the NFL, the league he wants to be employed by:
The filing, which demands an arbitration hearing on the matter, says the NFL and its owners "have colluded to deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment rights 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.”
In other words, either conform to the thinking that brought about Kaepernick’s protests or you’ll get sued. It’s a little “my way or the highway,” but millennial malcontents like Kaepernick don’t really care about your feelings as long as they get their way.