Colin Kaepernick’s protest must have cut deeper than previously thought. After not being signed by any teams in 2017, there were reports that the Baltimore Ravens were interested and close to signing Kaepernick. The Ravens abruptly ended the speculation and didn’t sign him, and more details as to why they made that choice have come to light. According to TMZ, a senior U.S. military official helped sway John Harbaugh against signing Kaepernick.
When Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was considering signing Kaepernick to the team before the 2017 NFL season, he sought advice from some trusted friends.
We’ve learned at least one of those friends is a high-ranking member of the U.S. military who essentially told Harbaugh to seriously consider if Colin’s national anthem demonstration fell in line with the team’s core values.
The official didn’t outright say, “Don’t sign Kaep” — but advised the team to give Colin a set of specific guidelines he needed to follow if he wanted to keep his job.
This has to be the first time in NFL history that the U.S. military has been involved in a free agency decision, and speaks to how effective Kaepernick’s protest was. Kaepernick’s simple peaceful gesture of kneeling silently spoke loud enough to garner a military response, which is amazing all on its own. The irony here is that one of America’s core values has always been the right to protest which is what the United States was founded on.