Jemele Hill, who was fired from ESPN for being overtly political in a nasty sort of way, has decided that it’s immoral for the New Orleans Saints to give Antonio Brown a tryout but not Colin Kaepernick.
Well, the NFL set up a tryout for Kaepernick, but he canceled out at the last moment. I guess that doesn’t count.
There is a huge difference between the two players.
When he is healthy and on the field, Brown is the best wide receiver in the entire NFL.
The last season that Kaepernick played he lost six games and won no games.
He just wasn’t very good at all, and he appeared to be just going through the motions.
If the Saints decide to sign the troubled wide receiver, it could just be through the end of this year because of criminal proceedings facing him, but entering the playoffs, Brown can give you enough to sway a lot of games.
What NFL team would feel comfortable with Kaepernick at the starting quarterback position?
While true that NFL teams are generally more interested when they contact you, as opposed to the league organizing a tryout for you, Kaepernick’s league organized workout was still something he should have taken seriously. Regardless, it’s highly doubtful that the Saints view Antonio Brown’s behavioral issues (allegations of rape and sexual misconduct coupled with erratic and unpredictable behavior) as “correctable.”
Instead, the Saints are likely and shrewdly calculating that by signing Brown with only the short postseason remaining, they can add tremendous offensive firepower while minimizing the troubled wide receiver’s ability to get in more trouble.
The other difference, obviously, is that Antonio Brown is an infinitely more gifted football player than Colin Kaepernick. When Brown is healthy and on the field, he is the best wide receiver in football. When Kaepernick was last on the field – three years ago – he was a middling NFL quarterback whose dedication and passion about football was being openly questioned by many.
These are not the same things.