So, not sure how many outside this market followed, but Michael Vick made a comment the other day about Kaepernick saying that if Kaep really wants to get signed with a team, the first thing he should do is get a hair cut. I heard it, and in context, I don't think there was anything offensive about it or that it was meant in a mean-spirited way, even if it might have been a bit boneheaded and/or out of touch. Apparently, he has since apologized and taken it back:
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/mike-vick-says-hes-sorry-telling-colin-kaepernick-cut-hair-175554398.html Specifically, he said:
At the end of the day, what I said, I should have never said. I think it was taken out of context in regards to what I was trying to convey, but I only want to help Kaepernick. I’m not a general manager, I’m not the guy who makes the decisions on getting him signed, and I’m truly sorry for what I said. I think I should have used a better choice of words.
Obviously his Afro has nothing to do with him being signed and I wasn’t trying to relay that message. It was more so about helping him at the end of the day. In all my interviews all I have ever tried to do is help him and talk positive.
I'm curious what people think of this. I'm not saying I'm right, but here's my two cents on the subject:
First off, again, I don't really see too much of a problem with the original comments. In context, I think what he was trying to say, although perhaps a bit inartfully, is that Kaep has earned himself a reputation of being controversial and being anti-establishment to the point where that is offputting to many, including those in a position to hire and/or manage him as a player on their teams. Couple that with his declining skill, and that will naturally be an obstacle to getting him signed. But if he took steps to remove/repair that controversial image, that could only help him out.
Personally, I don't have a problem with that philosophy at all. Yeah, you can be a rebel or be outspoken about the cause of your choice, and that's all great. But I also think that part of being a grown up is recognizing that, no matter how noble your cause might be, there are real-world consequences for voicing your views, and if you want something for yourself that will be nearly impossible to get because your actions or appearance or speech will be offensive to those in a position to give you what you want, you need to recognize that and made a decision about which is more important rather than being offended that you can't have it both ways. I liken it to when I was in law school, and in second and third year when people were applying for jobs, those with lots of piercings and/or tons of visible tattoos and/or wildly colored/styled hair were whining about not being able to get jobs and people in law firms not accepting them for who they are. Yeah, I get it. Your personal appearance is important to your personal identity. Nothing wrong with that. But there's also nothing wrong with those who work in a conservative environment feeling that it is inappropriate for that environment. So quit whining about it, recognize the issue, and just make your choice.
Second, I'm kind of long tired about living in a society where people feel the need to make contrived apologies that sound like they were simply told by those in power that they had better say something that sounds like an apology "or else." He isn't really apologizing. And his apology misses the point anyway. He absolutely DID mean that the Afro was a potential obstacle to Kaep getting signed, although I think he was trying to make a bigger point. If he wants to apologize and say that, in retrospect, he was wrong, then okay, fine. But to recant and say that that isn't what he meant when clearly it was pretty much renders his "apology" a nullity. And that, in and of itself, makes this a bigger story than it should be as far as I'm concerned. And, again, the reason why is that, to me, the bigger story isn't what Kaep or Vick have said or done. It is now about the fake society we live in where people have to back pedal and recant just because of some unjustified (or, often, completely contrived) outrage.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. I am fully open and prepared to be convinced that I am offbase or flat out wrong. What say you, DTF?
Topic: 2017 NFL thread v. Patriots Dynasty (Read 215917 times)
