Hank Aaron: Kaepernick is 'getting a raw deal'
Hank Aaron, the Atlanta Braves icon who endured vicious racism during his Hall of Fame career, is among those who think embattled quarterback Colin Kaepernick deserves a job in the NFL.
"I think he's getting a raw deal," Aaron said Wednesday in an interview with A TV One. "If you look at all the quarterbacks in the league right now, I think you have to say he is one, two, three, four. I don't think anybody can do the things he could do. I just wish somebody would open up and give him a chance to do his thing."
With just over two weeks left until the start of the NFL regular season, Kaepernick - whose on-field national anthem protests from a year ago sparked political tumult within the game - remains unemployed, leading many to speculate that the league's owners are blackballing him. Kaepernick, who led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012, put up solid numbers last season, after all, and still has the talent to be a starting quarterback, according to Aaron.
"The thing that bothers me about this whole situation is the fact that he is going to all these camps and nobody seems to think he stands a chance of being No. 1. This is a young player who almost carried a team to a championship, to a Super Bowl - but I was a Ravens fan."
Related: Alex Smith: 'Crazy' that Kaepernick's still unsigned
Last year, in his sixth season with the 49ers, Kaepernick posted his highest quarterback rating (90.7) since 2013, throwing for 2,241 yards and 16 touchdowns in 12 games while completing 59.2 percent of his pass attempts. In March, Kaepernick opted out of his contract with San Francisco.
Though he remains out of work, Kaepernick's protest movement - with black people and people of color being oppressed, he said, he refused to stand for the playing of the national anthem - has gained traction around the NFL of late. Last week, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett sat for the national anthem ahead of a preseason game in protest of racial inequality and police brutality, and a group of Cleveland Browns players kneeled in protest during the Star-Spangled Banner on Monday night.