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This article was sent earlier this season to be my former Dolphins great Tim Ruddy.
As a former NFL player, the Kaepernick situation is particularly deplorable to me. He is the perfect example of someone who should keep his mouth shut and let other people think he’s stupid, rather than open his mouth and prove it. I must admit that at first I thought Kaepernick was just so used to “ridin the pine” that he was trying to get a good seat before all the other preseason scrubs came to join him on the bloated preseason sideline. I wish that were the case.However, it should be noted that in the past, the NFL would have put an end to this after the first occurrence, as it obviously takes away from the game. But in the end, as always is the case with the NFL, it comes down to money. The dirty little secret is that the NFL owners and execs, a group that is almost exclusively white, are extremely afraid of looking or being accused of being racist. Consequently, they are extremely hesitant to look like they are keeping minority players silent or holding them down in any way. Additionally, should the players turn their racial protests against the owners, it will be extremely bad for business. So it is really simply a “lesser of two evils” situation for the NFL heads. Let the players focus their racial protests and anger on the police (Rams with the “Hands Up Don’t Shoot”) or the flag (Kaepernick, et al) instead of the group of rich white guys pulling the strings at the top, and scripting the majority of their professional lives.
FYI, to anyone who thinks otherwise, people watch the NFL to get away from politics and social problems, not to have them set as center stage. Poorly informed NFL players, just like poorly informed citizens, should keep quiet and stay out of the way. Time for those wearing their big boy pants to take the field and play football. Can I get an amen?
Tim Ruddy played for the Miami Dolphins from 1994 to 2003, after completing his career at Notre Dame (1990 to 1994) and from time to time shares his views on the game of football with us. Tim, not only excelled on the football field but also in the classroom achieved a 4.0 his junior and senior year while studying mechanical engineering at Notre Dame. Tim is the text book example of a student athlete and a person who looked at his football career as the start of his career not his whole career. His work ethic and dedication to the classroom as well as the football field is something that should be emulated by every young football players throughout the country.
