Colin Kaepernick has an ally in former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer. During a sit-down with The Denver Post, Plummer accused NFL owners of being scared to draft Kaepernick because of their ignorance.
“I think that [the owners are] all scared, and that they’re uneducated on him as a person and what he wants to do," Plummer said. "I don’t know if he wants to play for organizations run by scared, kind of bigoted people that don’t understand what it’s like to be in the shoes of someone like him and to see the things he’s seen and to relate to the people that go through the atrocities of what everyday people deal with.”
Plummer voiced hope that Kaepernick would find a team, and complimented the former 49ers quarterback on his talent.
“I don’t know. I hope someone does. I would really love it because I love watching him play,” he concluded. “I would love to see him come [to Denver], but I’m not sure if they would do that."
Kaepernick filed a collusion grievance against the NFL last year. There has been speculation that he has been blackballed for kneeling during the national anthem prior to games.
NFL owners have made headlines for expressing their opinions about players kneeling and protesting during the anthem.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross found himself in hot water after implied that players would be punished for protesting.
“All of our players will be standing," he told The New York Daily News. He also said he initially supported kneeling but changed his tune when Donald Trump called kneeling “disrespectful.”
“When that message changed, and everybody was interpreting it as that was the reason, then I was against kneeling," Ross said. "I like Donald [Trump]. I don't support everything that he says. Overall, I think he was trying to make a point, and his message became what kneeling was all about.”
Almost immediately after those comments were published earlier this week, Ross was subpoenaed for the investigation into Kaepernick’s case. The owner subsequently released a statement countering his previous comment.
"I have no intention of forcing our players to stand during the anthem and I regret that my comments have been misconstrued,” Ross said in the statement. "I've shared my opinion with all our players: I'm passionate about the cause of social justice and I feel that kneeling is an ineffective tactic that alienates more people than it enlists."
The New York Daily News responded by publishing the audio from the interview.