(ThyBlackMan.com) The Miami Dolphins’ recent signing of former Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler seems to have provided a tipping point in the support of Colin Kaepernick. It feels like a slap in our black faces. The Dolphins’ un-retirement of a mediocre proven perennial loser quarterback in favor of a Super Bowl veteran free-agent, in his prime, and perfectly healthy Colin Kaepernick was at least the tipping point for this writer and avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I hate that I will have to sit out a season in which I fully expect my team to compete for a Championship.
I hate that I will miss Martavis Bryant’s return and Antonio Brown’s display of what he can do without double-teams, but I will. I will not watch a single NFL game in this coming season until Colin Kaepernick is signed to an NFL contract. This protest by the NFL’s
white owners is tantamount to a post whipping in front of the slaves. It’s to set an example against resistance to the denial of civil rights.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are the ideal landing site for Kaepernick. Ironically for me, my favorite team is a storied franchise with a Super Bowl champion black Head Coach, a well understood need for a solid backup quarterback, a team owner who instituted the Rooney Rule, and a history of acquiring at least one controversial player in the form of Michael Vick, who didn’t even bother to offer Kaepernick a workout. They were willing to hire a convicted animal abuser, but not someone who stood up for the rights of the very people whom they employ as a franchise. They are willing to employ a thrice accused alleged rapist in Ben Roethlisberger, but not a man who took a knee in silent protest of police brutality.
I am not alone in my protest. The latest slap in the face seems to be a tipping point for more people than me as I am witnessing my Facebook friends and family either committing to not watching the NFL or openly beginning to consider that commitment. Applying pressure to the white owners of the NFL is an appropriate and affirmative action, but we should not limit the momentum of this movement, we should further it. We should send a shock wave down through the ranks that this will not be tolerated and we should begin to organize to form our own ownership groups of a league that we control. In my opinion, this should begin in the college ranks.
Imagine if every top African-American recruit in 2018 commits to play football, basketball, baseball, and hockey at an HBCU. Imagine then if the HBCUs refuse any and all support and/or administration from the NCAA. Imagine if they then negotiate their own television contracts with Revolt, Centric, or YouTube to broadcast their own games. Imagine if they then support their athletes by offering revenue sharing deferred until and conditional upon their graduation. Imagine if they offered better per diems and life support to their student athletes backed by the black donor class. Now imagine these athletes being drafted by leagues formed by majority black ownership groups when they enter professional sports. Imagine LeBron James’ Clutch Sports platform being the primary commentary outlet instead of ESPN or FS1. Imagine King Colin as the President of the football league instead of begging for a job.
I call upon all of us to rally. I call upon all of us to take our talented sons and daughters, coordinate with each other and to form Fab Five style Superteams at our HBCUs. The famous and talented group of Michigan high-schoolers turned University of Michigan Superteam could have just as easily committed to Howard University or Lincoln University and could have easily and instantly raised the prestige and profile of our storied institutions. They could have turned them into Division I contenders instantly. I call upon black America to make this happen in 2018 and I call upon the current group of star collegiate groups to transfer now; form Superteams now. Television revenue alone would change the course of HBCUs forever.
Staff Writer; Asani Akida
