Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers believes free agent QB Colin Kaepernick deserves to be on an NFL roster right now, and if you think Kaepernick's national anthem protests have nothing to do with his inability to land a job, you're being ignorant.
ESPN The Magazine's Mina Kimes recently linked up with Rodgers for a cover story, wherein the Packers' signal caller spoke about Kaepernick's situation, as well as the anthem protests that continue to take place around the NFL.
In regards to Kaepernick, Rodgers says it would be "ignorant" to believe the protests have nothing to do with the QB's current job search.
Per ESPN The Magazine,
"I think he should be on a roster right now," Rodgers said. "I think because of his protests, he's not."
"I'm gonna stand because that's the way I feel about the flag—but I'm also 100 percent supportive of my teammates or any fellow players who are choosing not to," Rodgers told Kimes. "They have a battle for racial equality. That's what they're trying to get a conversation started around."
He added, "I think the best way I can say this is: I don't understand what it's like to be in that situation. What it is to be pulled over, or profiled, or any number of issues that have happened, that Colin was referencing—or any of my teammates have talked to me about."
Some players, like Buffalo Bills running back, LeSean McCoy, don't think he's worth the distraction. McCoy noted that the anthem protest definitely plays into why Kaepernick's still on the free agent market but, unlike Rodgers, he doesn't think Kaepernick has enough on-field talent to offset the media circus that accompanies him.
Last week, in speaking about Kaepernick, McCoy told reporters,
"Take a guy like Michael Vick who went through all that he went through. He's 10 times better than Kaepernick. So you'll deal with that situation. You'll deal with that attention, the media aspect of it, the good the bad attention to it compared to Kaepernick, he's really not that good of a player."
While Kaepernick is not currently on an NFL roster he remains at the forefront of the upcoming NFL season as players across the league take part in the anthem protest he started last season. Nearly 1,000 fans recently gathered outside of the NFL headquarters in New York City to show support for Kaepernick and demand that he be put on an NFL roster before the upcoming season.
You can read Mina Kimes' full cover story on Aaron Rodgers right here.