Colin Kaepernick will be invited to the next meeting between NFL players and owners, according to ESPN. The meeting is set to take place next Tuesday in NYC. The invite will be extended by the players and not the league itself. But league spokesman Joe Lockhart said, “We look forward to him joining the conversation.”
Kap hasn’t played a snap in the NFL since last season and it is the belief of many that he is being blackballed by the league’s owners due to his protests during the national anthem. Kap in the same room as John Mara, Jerry Jones, Steve Biscotti, et al. That should be a pay-per view event. Not because there will be any physical altercations, but all the subtle and not so subtle body language and posturing.
There will be an agenda of items to be discussed and I’m sure the national anthem protests will be a line item. The league and its owners love touting this idea of togetherness and the need for dialogue around issues that their players care about. How will they react when the conversation gets uncomfortable and the players bring the real issues they are concerned about to the forefront? Police brutality, racial and economic injustice, prison and criminal justice reform. Not topics that these wealthy old white men like to discuss in their free time, at least not positively.
After this meeting and dialogue begins, will there be clear action items and next steps? Will they be acted on? Stay tuned.