BY Brett Maloney
Staff Reporter
The National Football League (NFL) agreed on a settlement with former professional quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and safety Eric Reid, to come up with a solution to ongoing grievances between the players and the league.
According to the Associated Press, “it remains unclear if the NFL admitted wrongdoing or how much money Reid, Kaepernick, or others may have received.”
Sophomore Ted Yerardi believes that the settlement was a good decision by the legal system.
“He [Kaepernick] should be compensated for the money that was lost due to the collusion of NFL owners,” said sophomore Ted Yerardi. “If he can actually compete and hold his own after three years, he should be able to play, but he was benched for a backup so I don’t think he’ll fit into any system.”
Both Kaepernick and Reid filed collusion grievances against the league, saying they were blacklisted because of protests during the national anthem at games. Kaepernick has not played in the league since 2016, while Reid missed three games last season before signing with the Carolina Panthers.
“I personally don’t think Kaepernick should be allowed to take the settlement from the NFL, because I don’t believe what he stands for is true, and what he would be bringing to an organization is more than just football,” said sophomore Michael Zawadzki.
With the issue resolved, the attention now turns to Kaepernick and whether he is able to get signed by an NFL team in the future.
“I personally don’t think he’s going to go to any team. A team has to be willing to go out on the line for him, and they don’t know how their fans or the NFL will react,” said junior Joseph Toci.
Freshman Michael Corcoran, who is a member of the Sacred Heart club football team, doesn’t believe that Kaepernick should be making more money playing professional football.
“He started the controversy in the NFL, which I feel took away enjoyment of just watching the game as a whole,” said Corcoran.
The situation between Kaepernick, Reid and the league has been spread out nationally. National Basketball League Hall-Of-Famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, relayed his thoughts about the settlement.
“I think it’s a win for Colin,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “I think he wants to go back and start playing again. He had a statement that he had to make through his demonstrations, but he’s a quarterback and I think he should be working.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
