05-24-2018, 11:55 PM
Trump's inteference/pressure on NFL teams could also help Kaepernick's collusion case.
As shown in their October 2017 meeting with players and league officials, a number of team owners were openly worried about President Donald Trump’s intense criticisms of Kaepernick and how the league responded to Kaepernick.
Owners were mindful of Trump warning the NFL that he could recommend that teams should not receive favorable tax treatment in their stadium deals. Trump also encouraged fans to tune out from games if teams and the league didn't discipline protesting players.
Also working in Kap's favor: internal franchise documents generated as part of the free-agency evaluation process and testimony from witnesses harvested via depositions in the collusion litigation has established that teams viewed Kaepernick as being good enough not simply to be employed by an NFL team, but to be a starting quarterback for an NFL team.
The NFL will have a hard time convincing a judge or arbitrator that Kaepernick wasn't given a shot because he wasn't a good enough performer in light of those franchise documents, the deposition testimony of people like Elway, and Kap's stats.
There is also electronic communication between owners which is part of the evidence, but I haven't seen anything about the contents yet.
I'm not saying Kaepernick is going to win his case; it's a tough charge to prove. But, he certainly has a shot.
Refs:
https://www.ninersnation.com/2018/5/22/1...uarterback
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/05/24/colin-...lling-data
As shown in their October 2017 meeting with players and league officials, a number of team owners were openly worried about President Donald Trump’s intense criticisms of Kaepernick and how the league responded to Kaepernick.
Owners were mindful of Trump warning the NFL that he could recommend that teams should not receive favorable tax treatment in their stadium deals. Trump also encouraged fans to tune out from games if teams and the league didn't discipline protesting players.
Also working in Kap's favor: internal franchise documents generated as part of the free-agency evaluation process and testimony from witnesses harvested via depositions in the collusion litigation has established that teams viewed Kaepernick as being good enough not simply to be employed by an NFL team, but to be a starting quarterback for an NFL team.
The NFL will have a hard time convincing a judge or arbitrator that Kaepernick wasn't given a shot because he wasn't a good enough performer in light of those franchise documents, the deposition testimony of people like Elway, and Kap's stats.
There is also electronic communication between owners which is part of the evidence, but I haven't seen anything about the contents yet.
I'm not saying Kaepernick is going to win his case; it's a tough charge to prove. But, he certainly has a shot.
Refs:
https://www.ninersnation.com/2018/5/22/1...uarterback
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/05/24/colin-...lling-data