Nick Bosa and Colin Kaepernick Situations Are Not The Same | Bobby Burack
On Sunday night, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa photobombed his teammates during a postgame interview with NBC wearing a "Make America Great Again," a nod in support of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The mere two-second camera shot caused an expected uproar from the usual suspects in the sports media.
The vultures are calling upon the NFL to take action by likening Bosa to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who infamously knelt before the national anthem in supposed protest of policing in America.
"The concern [with Bosa's hat] is whether the NFL might show it has a double standard when it comes to political expressions by players. Kaepernick gets blackballed for fighting for social justice, and Bosa gets, what?" wrote Jim Trotter in an article for The New York Times on Tuesday.
RELATED: Jim Trotter Complains The Athletic 'Watered-Down' Nick Bosa Column Where He Accuses NFL Of Racism
"Your yearly reminder that Kaepernick was blackballed from the NFL for being Black with a political opinion," read a post featuring Bosa, shared by USA Today columnist Nancy Armour.
"49ers’ Nick Bosa showed us who he is. And it ain’t Colin Kaepernick," penned Scott Ostler in an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Former ESPN hosts Jemele Hill and Bomani Jones are feigning outrage over Bosa's hat, claiming his message vindicates Colin Kaepernick.
So is David Dennis Jr. And career-long liar Mike Freeman, who argued in the USA Today that Bosa is "not an intellect" and "no Colin Kaepernick." Etc. Etc. Etc.
The mob has reported for duty.
But the comparisons between Bosa and Kaepernick are utterly shallow. The arguments of a double standard fall short, considering the very basic fact that the NFL never fined, suspended, or even condemned Colin Kaepernick.
The 49ers cut Kaepernick, and other teams passed on signing him because the polarization of the player started to outweigh the benefit of employing him.
Kaepernick started a two-season-long movement of national anthem protests that even his staunchest defenders admit directly led to the NFL's double-digit ratings declines between 2015 and 2017.
Kaepernick had become bad for business. And his play on the field was poor. San Francisco benched Kaepernick in favor of the painfully mediocre Blaine Gabbert, who proved to be a modest upgrade.
See, no NFL team could, in good faith, justify signing a backup quarterback that was A) not very good, B) bad for ratings and ticket sales, and C) would have been uniquely difficult to cut because of the inevitable political backlash.
None of those factors apply to Nick Bosa.
RELATED: NBC Cuts Out Nick Bosa And His MAGA Hat In Edited Postgame Video, Deletes It After Being Called Out
While his hat distressed Jim Trotter and Jemele Hill, there's no evidence that fans at large are upset by it or even care.
Why would they? Wearing a hat supporting a political party is hardly the equivalent of disrespecting the anthem and the soldiers who died fighting for our freedoms.
Colin Kaepernick. (Credit: Getty Images)
Playing devil's advocate, Fox News host Will Cain asked me Tuesday on his show, "What if Bosa's hat eventually does cause a league-wide distraction?"
Well, the 49ers could certainly rid themselves of Bosa if he, like Kaepernick, becomes no longer worth the headache. However, we don't see that happening.
Unlike Kaepernick, Nick Bosa is not a backup. He is one of the best, if not the best, defensive players in the NFL.
Notice that Bomani Jones and Nancy Armour never mention play on the field, which, besides money, is all NFL owners care about.
Ultimately, the incessant comparisons of Bosa to Kaepernick are ploys to incite the racially grieved TDS-suffering X users, the only demographic that still takes Jemele Hill seriously. They are preying on the weak – and the racists.
Racial hysteria is business. Without it, an entire wing of sports media would lose its purpose.
The race grifters see an opportunity. They see an opportunity to contrast a white Trump supporter (Nick Bosa) and a black Marxist (Colin Kaepernick), knowing that no matter the facts, their poorly informed and easily manipulated followers will respond with rage.
Thus, the grift continues.