The Colin Kaepernick debate is over

When the Indianapolis Colts, in desperate need of a viable quarterback, dug deep into their emergency contact list to sign Philip Rivers, it came as a surprise since he was retired and hadn’t played since 2020.

And do you know what was equally surprising about this decision? No one of note complained that Colin Kaepernick wasn’t an option.

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No complaints against Kaepernick

Kaepernick hasn’t trained with the Colts, hasn’t been contacted, hasn’t even been considered, even though the Colts have contacted other quarterbacks.

And what followed that Kaepernick omission was nothing.

There was no reaction. No notable complaints about Kaepernick being banned. No accusations of racism after Indianapolis signed a 44-year-old white man instead of a 38-year-old black man.

There hasn’t been a single mention in NFL media and pundit circles of another Kaepernick snub — not even from Kaepernick’s chief lawyer, Mike Florio.

So why is this remarkable?

This deserves attention because it could mean the end of an era. Finally! This indicates that we may be past the days when people accused every NFL team of being racist when they didn’t sign Kaepernick to fill a quarterback need.

Colin Kaepernick arrives for a workout for NFL scouts and media in Riverdale, Georgia on November 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Todd Kirkland, file)

Colin Kaepernick’s memory fades

It speaks to an understanding that teams don’t care about fan or media complaints as much as they care about Kaepernick’s complications.

This indicates that people are finally understanding the accusations of racism from people of a certain political leaning against the NFL’s hollow ring that is 75 percent black.

So yeah, it’s a big deal.

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This matters because the faithful who portrayed Kaepernick as some sort of hero when he said, “I’m not going to stand up and show my pride in front of a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” once forgot how hypocritical he was on the very day of his first protest.

But now maybe they just forgot about it.

Tons of no-complaint QB moves

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) on the sideline during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on December 6, 2020. (Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports)

Rivers isn’t the first quarterback this year to come out of nowhere and sign a practice squad contract before Kaepernick. We’ve seen a large number of mostly unaccomplished quarterbacks sign practice squad contracts throughout this season.

Shane Buechele with the Bills.

Brady Cook with the Jets.

Bailey Zappe with the Browns.

Seth Henigan with the Jaguars before practicing for the Colts on Tuesday, as did Rivers.

More? Well traveled Trevor Siemian with the Titans, Chris Oladokun with the Chiefs, Cam Miller with the Raiders.

The Colts also added Brett Rypien

There are nearly a dozen other such hard-working quarterbacks on NFL practice squads. And some of these guys were removed and replaced. Some even joined other teams.

Brett Rypien started with the Bengals, then was promoted to the active roster, then was released, then was signed to the Colts’ practice squad, then was promoted to Indy’s active roster on Wednesday.

But amid all these movements, no Kaepernick

And nothing to complain about that either.

The activists of 2017 would not recognize this peace.

The end has come for Kaepernick

None of these other guys reached the ceiling that Kaepernick did while starting for a Super Bowl team. But their potential is far greater than the terrain Kaepernick stumbled upon at the end of his NFL career.

Notice what I did there? “At the end of his NFL career” was not typed in error.

This end actually came after the 2016 season.

Turns out it took almost a decade for everyone to accept it and seemingly move on.