BRONX, NY – I’m tapping this post out on a Monday evening, just before taking the dog for a walk. Everything is quiet, the a/c is doing it’s job, and life seems pretty okay. But, my personal world aside, I’d like to take a moment to talk about two black athletes who should be familiar to everyone on the planet at this point: Colin Kapernick and Tiger Woods.
As I watched lowlights form this weekend’s preseason NFL “action,” my thoughts couldn’t help but drift to Colin Kaepernick and the fact that he has been blackballed from the NFL for peacefully protesting social injustices against people of color. There is NO other way to look at it. Team owners around the league together decided to never hire the guy again because he decided to kneel during the National Anthem. When I see guys like Geno Smith, Paxton Lynch and countless other fringe players still drawing NFL paychecks while Kapernick is not, I can’t help but shake my head.
These are truly shameful times we are living in. It is my great hope that one day we as American people will look back on these years and think to ourselves, “Wow, how did we let all of this stuff go down?” But I fear that we will never reach that point. The bar has now been set so impossibly low, that even the slightest overall moral upgrade will do very little. Kaepernick, himself is the perfect microcosm of the way our society functions. He had the guts to stand up for a just cause and became an outcast. Meanwhile, a white guy who dodged the draft and never stood for anything but himself, became President. But, let’s get back to sports.
The bottom line is Kaepernick played for just about 5 seasons, has 72 touchdowns against 30 interceptions, a 59.8% completion percentage, and played (extremely well, in fact) in a Super Bowl. He’s 30 years old and this will be his second year without a job offer from any of the league’s 32 teams. Even if you have issues with his style of play or, yes, his protests, you have to admit that this guy has earned the right to be on a NFL roster. I sincerely hope he wins his lawsuit against the NFL and wins big. For the record I, like many others I know, feel like a complete fraud for continuing to follow football when there are so many reasons not to. It’s always been my favorite sport and it’s tough to walk away from something you’ve done for so long. Still, I can’t rule out that day coming. For now, I resign myself to the fact that I’m a spineless jellyfish. And speaking of spineless jellyfish….
This past Sunday Tiger Woods, maybe the most recognizable black athlete in the world, was asked about his relationship with Donald Trump, as well as his controversial (I’m being kind here) practices and policies. Here’s his somewhat edited response. “I’ve known Donald for a number of years. We’ve played golf together. We’ve had dinner together. I’ve known him pre-presidency and obviously during his presidency. He’s the President of the United States. You have to respect the office. No matter who is in the office, you may like, dislike personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.”
When someone followed up and asked if he wanted comment about the state of race relations Tiger said, “No. I just finished 72 holes and am really hungry.”
You’re hungry Tiger? Go eat a bag of sh!t. Here’s a guy who can really do something for people by at least saying something thoughtful. Instead he deflects. There’s no wonder he’s tight with Trump. They’re cut from the same crappy cloth. Two guys with a penchant for cheating and looking out for #1. I’ll admit I was rooting for Tiger as he made his run at the PGA Championship a couple of weeks back. But now he can just f**k off eternally. When it comes to sports role models, I’m with Kaepernick.
Come back tomorrow for Buddy Diaz who is, by all accounts, a solid citizen.
