Donald Trump may have just unwittingly gotten Colin Kaepernick reinstated in the NFL

| 10:10 pm EDT September 23, 2017
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Donald Trump tried to score easy points with his own base by calling NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick a “son of a bitch” and insisting he shouldn’t be allowed to play football, but as it turns out Trump has prompted the leaders of the National Football League to publicly condemn him. In all, the NFL commissioner and the owners of more than half a dozen different NFL teams have now released statements calling out Trump within the past twenty-four hours.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who is widely viewed as a soulless shill for the team owners, was prompted to state the following about Trump: “Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.” That sentiment was then echoed in separate statements released by the owners of the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and others.

This is remarkable for a number of reasons. Kaepernick is clearly among the best sixty-four quarterbacks in the NFL, meaning he should have landed a job somewhere as a starter or backup. But none of these owners were willing to sign Kaepernick on the offseason, as they were presumably looking to avoid the controversy involved with bringing him on board. Yet now several of these same team owners have concluded that Trump’s attack on Kaepernick is so bad for business that they feel compelled to publicly call Trump out for it.

Now we wait to see what happens next. Trump has already responded by tweeting negatively, though tepidly, about Goodell. Now that the league’s ownership has effectively and reluctantly sided with Colin Kaepernick over Donald Trump without mentioning Kaepernick’s name, will he end up back in the league as a result of Trump’s tantrum?