The NFL has effectively divided and conquered the players.
I am not sure if they did it on purpose, but that is what happened when Malcolm Jenkins decided to go behind some of the players back and negotiate a deal wit the NFL.
Chargers Russell Okung explains why he believes the whole thing is a farce via the LA Times.
“I think, in order to understand what we’d do differently, you have to understand the full political and economic power of the league. When they engage us in ways we can kind of bring about change, that was my thinking — that we should be able to operate on full capacity on multiple levels,” Okung said Friday. “This goes beyond dollars and cents. It goes beyond just allocating funds from other initiatives that are just as important. It’s going to take a real commitment of us, leveraging the platform of the players and empowering us to really talk about these issues, police engagement and brutality.
“That’s just something, I feel, that’s been made into a farce.
Kaepernick’s role with the Players Coalition — or lack thereof — has been cited as part of the reason the group has fractured.
“I think you’ve got to keep in mind who started this whole thing, who sort of put himself on the line. There’s definitely some respect there. I believe this is the same league who has effectively blackballed him,” Okung said. “So when you’re dealing with a certain group of people, this entity as a league — you try to keep in mind, is this a reparation, or just $89 million?
“Reparation extends beyond just dollars and cents, in real change in policy and lobbying. I think that should be more at the forefront of what we’re trying to accomplish here.”