Chip Kelly Says Colin Kaepernick Isn't A Distraction, Should Be Signed

Colin Kaepernick is presently unemployed and an NFL free agent. The former 49ers starter, who started Super Bowl XLVII for San Francisco and 11 games last year, now finds himself watching other quarterbacks who have had less success in the league get picked up ahead of him as he waits.

The reason most point to as why Kaepernick is still without a job is because teams are avoiding him due to his protesting last season by kneeling each game during the national anthem. This upset many and caused one unnamed NFL GM to call him a “traitor” last year, and now it appears as if he’s been blackballed from the league — at least Richard Sherman thinks so.

The latest excuse for teams not signing Kaepernick is that he’s a vegan, which is absurd, but about par for the course for the NFL being dumb. However, no one believes that is an actual reason for a second. Kaepernick’s coach last season during his protests was Chip Kelly, who spoke with The MMQB recently about Kaepernick still not having a job and he stuck up for his former quarterback as not being a distraction.

“There was zero distraction,” Kelly said. “He met with the team immediately after [his first protest]. He met with the other team leaders. He explained his position and where he was coming from. And literally, that was it. Colin was focused on football. He was all about the team and trying to help us win.”

Kelly also insisted that Kaepernick should have a job because he’s without a doubt one of the best 64 quarterbacks in the world and should have a place on a roster somewhere.

“Do I think he is one of the top 64 quarterbacks in the world? There is no question,” Kelly said. “Does he have the ability to play quarterback on a winning team in the NFL? There is no question.”

Hearing Kelly say these things makes it clear that NFL teams don’t actually want to look into whether signing Kaepernick would be a bad move for the locker room or would be a bad fit for a roster. If they were doing their due diligence into the matter, they would go and talk to his former coaches about the Instead, teams have decided that there’s a public relations hit to take and they aren’t willing to do it, and will hide behind the facade of him being a vegan or him not being talented enough.

It’s alright though, at least these opportunities are going to guys that have a track record of making a difference on a winning team.