COMMENTARY: Just admit it. Colin Kaepernick got blackballed.

Kaepernick+speaks+to+youth+at+one+of+his+Know+Your+Rights+Camp+events.

Kaepernick speaks to youth at one of his Know Your Rights Camp events.

John Ferraro

It’s no secret that many National Football League (NFL) clubs struggled at the quarterback position last year.

Marginal, no-name quarterbacks like C.J. Beathard, Kevin Hogan, Mike Glennon, Bryce Petty and Blaine Gabbert actually took snaps in an NFL game in 2017.

Fans had to endure unwatchable play at the most important position on the field. The 2018 season won’t be any different.

Teams will gamble on drafting young college prospects in hopes of resurrecting their franchises from the depths of either perpetual mediocrity or utter chaos.

All of this is happening while a proven winner and class act in Colin Kaepernick continues getting blackballed.

As first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Seattle Seahawks postponed a workout with Kaepernick when he declined to stop kneeling during the national anthem.

Instead, the Seahawks signed someone by the name of Austin Davis.

Once very progressive, with the likes of Richard Sherman and Martellus Bennett on the roster, Seattle is now just like every other franchise on the anthem issue: cowardly and apathetic.

The NFL doesn’t want to deal with mean tweets from the President of the United States or backlash from his base.

Owners would rather sign convicted criminals and domestic abusers if it means less of an impact to their bottom line.

According to NFL Arrest, which provides a database of National Football League player arrests and charges, 81 active NFL players have been previously arrested.

NFL Arrest also reports nearly 100 incidents involving domestic violence since 2000, with nine since 2016.

Most of these instances are settled out-of-court or ignored by mainstream media. Unless there is a ratings-popping TMZ video of a man knocking out a woman in an elevator, fans don’t seem to care about a player’s criminal history as long as he does his job.

It’s likely that Kaepernick will never get another opportunity to play for the NFL. And maybe that’s a positive.

As the NFL continues to face issues like Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which could doom the sport in a decade or two, Kaepernick will continue to be one of the greatest modern day social justice activists we’ve seen.

I am looking forward to seeing how Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp continues to educate young people in this country. That’s his game now and he’s still a winner.

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Twitter: @JohnFerraroTWW