CBS WALKS BACK REPORT THAT KAEPERNICK WILL STAND FOR THE ANTHEM IF HIRED. Great journalisming from CBS: Jason La Canfora, the CBS sports journalist who interviewed Kaepernick is now tweeting, “Standing for Anthem wasn’t something that I spoke to Colin about sat. I relayed what had been reported about him standing in the future…” (ellipses in original).
As John Sexton writes at Hot Air, “Frankly, this doesn’t make any sense:”
If this reporter spent several hours talking to Kaepernick it’s hard to believe the elephant in the room wasn’t discussed. LaCanfora seemed pretty clear when he said “He’s not planning on kneeling” and “he’s planning on standing.” If they never talked about that.
I haven’t seen video of LaCanfora’s explanation yet, but this is a pretty big screw up, if it is one. It seems more likely to me that he was actually told those things by Kaepernick or his agent or someone but was asked not to report it. I’m guessing he got a call after his segment (above) aired.
In any case, Colin Kaepernick is a political extremist. He’s already made clear once that politics is more important to him than football. Even if he did make such a promise behind the scenes, why would a team take his word? Even if he does drop the anthem protest, there are lots of other ways he could continue to politicize his job (though probably few as counter-productive). Maybe some team wants his drama but it’s hard to see how the NFL as a whole benefits from it.
Nessa Diab, Kaepernick’s girlfriend, is also denying the report. Diab is currently a New York radio host who reportedly radicalized the former 49ers QB while DJing in San Francisco. During this past offseason, she issued a tweet that compared Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to a slave owner and superstar former Raven Ray Lewis as his Uncle Tom. As Clay Travis of the Outkick the Coverage sportsblog writes in response to Diab’s tweet, “This is why Kaepernick is unsigned. Who needs this mess for a mediocre QB?”
UPDATE: Pass the popcorn — “Colin Kaepernick Camp Accuses Jason La Canfora and CBS of Fake News,” reports USA Today’s sports blog.
After La Canfora’s report, Kaepernick retweeted this entry from TV/radio personality Charlamagne Tha God, which said that Kaepernick “never spoke to CBS,” but that he “bumped into” La Canfora in a hotel lobby:
And currently on Kaepernick’s Twitter account is this bon mot:
Besides reports that Churchill likely never said that, the uber-woke Kaepernick is quoting the same infamous colonialist oppressor whose bust Obama banished from the White House? Now who’s being naive, Kap?