I said this before the league meetings because coaches were
being asked during press conferences, scouting, combine
or wherever about Colin Kaepernick. And I said, ho ho,
ho ho wait, wait,
the coaches, aren't the ones who should be asked about Colin
Kaepernick because they're not the ones who are ensuring that
the door remains closed. The people who should be asked
about, Colin Kaepernick's, lingering shunning
by the NFL or the people who own
the NFL teams, enter Mark, Davis
owner of the law.
Faucet. Lost lost, baby. I lost
almost said, Los Angeles, Los Oakland. I almost said, loss
Oakland Raiders, which would be a very cool name. Las Vegas,
Raiders,
here. He is talking about his position
on whether or not Colin Kaepernick should have a job in the NFL.
Colin Kaepernick you have been on record saying that you would
be open to him becoming a Raider. If the coaching staff
felt that he was
able to contribute to this team.
Where do you stand on that? Colin and going?
I'm basically in kind of show people that he can still play
football.
Listen II believe in Colin Kaepernick and he deserves
every chance in the world to become a quarterback in
the National Football League. I still stand by it. If our
coaches, our general manager
want to bring him in or want him to be the quarterback on
this team. I would welcome him with open arms.
I think Collins a very misunderstood human being.
I've gotten a chance to talk to him. I never really knew Colin
and I didn't understand him. And I I didn't understand
the kneeling what that meant initially
over time. I have learned a little bit more about it. And
I understand where he was coming from and
he's got a message for society. As a whole. There's people that
I'm very close with Tommy Smith is somebody who back in 1968
made a non violent
gesture to let people know that. Yeah, I might have won
the gold medal but there's a lot of problems left back in
America that we got to fix
and I think in the same vein
Colin Kaepernick has sacrificed a lot of
the things that he could have been doing in his life
and to get a message across about police violence
and and equity and inclusion in America.
And
I stand by that.
That sound. You heard periodically during that? Clip
was Roger Goodell texting. Mark Davis. Will you please shut up?
Will you please shut up? I'm I'm kidding. Calm down Roger.
It's just a joke, a little levity.
This is good, that he said what he said.
Now, I'm looking at their roster, Miles quarterback
position, Derek Carr, Nick Mullens Garrett Gilbert.
Hey, Mark, you own the team. Let me just speak to Mark
Davis, man-to-man,
you all in the team.
You can hide behind general managers and coaches. All you
want you own the team. And if you really wanted to have
the conversation with Dave, Ziggler, the GM or Josh,
McDaniels,
the head coach about Garrett Gilbert versus Colin Kaepernick
or Nick Mullens versus Colin Kaepernick. You could you can
have that conversation. Now, I'm not sure Kaepernick is
a fit because of something he said
within the past week or two about
Willing to come in as a backup, but once I prove I'm
the starter I want to play. I mean they've got a starter so that
would make the Raiders not a fit.
But but if they do want to give an opportunity
practice squad,
come establish yourself on the practice squad, let somebody
see some film from practicing and maybe they can they can you
know,
put him on a team elsewhere. Let him let him be in training
camp in the preseason show. He's not a distraction and then
cut him and someone else comes in and gets him. That's
a possibility.
But At least it's something. It's a toe dangerously close to
the water. It's not in the water yet,
but it's the first time we've had an owner speak like this.
I want to hear more
and hopefully it goes in that direction. I'll be surprised if
it does. But kudos to Mark Davis for at least saying
something other than the crap, we've been hearing for the last
five years. All the false narratives, all the phony
baloney mumbo-jumbo this that can't do it, can't do it, blah,
blah, blah, Mark Davis.
I applaud him for what he said, but I want to see more action.
Although I'm not holding my breath.
Mike, you know, my drawstring phrase. Oh, won't someone rid
me of this meddlesome priest, right? This is almost. Why
won't somebody bring me this priest. All right. I mean,
I think, you know, you brought up the backup cubies that they
have and Mullins and in Gilbert,
you could at least have him come in compete. On the 90, man
roster where you're in the offseason program, where then
you go to training camp and then you say, well, maybe he
actually can do something for us. Maybe he can be
a backup QB. Now,
I would not anticipate
Pate that Colin Kaepernick can go in there and beat out Derek
Carr especially because guess what, they just paid Derek
Carr. A whole lot of money to be their quarterback for
the next few years, but I just feel like this is something that we
really haven't heard before, and
I like the Mark Davis, is not just
saying like, yeah, we'd be open to it. But he's providing a lot
of context to what the remarks are, right? Where he he's
saying, why he feels the way that he feels. So,
this is a good Up, but I agree that you know, once you're
the owner of the team, there's more that you can do then just say
words.
You could really give Colin Kaepernick that opportunity to
come in and compete for a backup role. And from what
Colin Kaepernick has said, that's what he wants.
Yeah, we've been talking all week about the influence of
owners when it comes to the first round of the draft and
particularly the first round of the draft. They like to say, we
don't make the decisions. They have a way of making their
preference is known
in frankly. Frankly Mark Davis made his preference known
pretty loud. Now. He said I defer to the gym and the coach,
but if you want to keep Mark Davis happy, maybe it's
something, you explore. But again, Kaepernick came out last
week and said once I prove
myself, Of, I want to be the starter that creates
an expectation. That may not mesh with the traditional backup
role for some teams teams have do different kinds of backups.
The canoe come in and compete
with the starter
and may the best man win
and the kind who come in
clearly to support the starter
with no aspiration to start no threat to the starter.
Everybody knows their their spot in the hierarchy. The
Raiders don't have an open starting job right now. So that
would be the one in Panama. But there is a way you
can at least give him a chance
to prove that. He can actually show up and function at
practice. He can play in the preseason
and then maybe another team
decides to give Colin Kaepernick an