Colin Kaepernick will not play in the NFL again: Emmanuel Acho

In this episode of Influencers, Andy Serwer speaks with former NFL player and 'Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man' author, Emmanuel Acho, about Colin Kaepernick's future in football and what NFL owners can do to address racial tension within the league.

Video transcript

ANDY SERWER: When you had Roger Goodell on, Emmanuel-- I think it was in August-- he offered an apology to Colin Kaepernick. But Colin Kaepernick still has not been signed by a team. Is this collusion? Do you think he'll ever go back to the NFL?

EMMANUEL ACHO: No, I don't think Colin Kaepernick will play in the NFL, but there are so many variables to this. What do I mean by that?

In the NFL, every organization runs a cost-benefit analysis. How much will it cost us to have you on organization, and how much will you benefit us? So if you're an NFL organization, especially four years removed, in regards to Colin Kaepernick, now you're weighing the risk-reward. He'll come in, and obviously, he'll be anywhere from a second- to a third-string quarterback right now.

Is having Colin Kaepernick as a second- or third-string quarterback worth the questions that every player will now get asked, that we will now get asked, and is it worth the distraction that the media will create? Not Colin Kaepernick, necessarily, but the media will create.

So, because of that, I don't think that Colin Kaepernick would get signed. I also think that-- I don't know-- sometimes there's an impasse. Remember. Let's talk Cam Newton for a second. Cam Newton didn't want to be a backup quarterback. He wanted to be a starter. And as a result, there was only one team that wanted to make him a starter.

Eric Reid, someone who has been proudly known to be standing by Colin Kaepernick, very justifiably so-- the Washington Football Team-- they offered him a place on their practice squad. Eric Reid turned it down because Eric Reid views himself as a starter. And so, just because you want to play doesn't necessarily mean that the position will be offered to you that you do, in fact, want.

So, because of all the nuances regarding that, I personally don't see Colin Kaepernick playing in the NFL.

- So it was the situation where the owners didn't want him for a while, and now Father Time has entered into the equation as well a little bit, perhaps, too.

EMMANUEL ACHO: I would say it's a combination of everything. The owners don't want what the media will bring with that, number one.

And number two-- it's so detailed, and it's so multifaceted, but until the owners can also get their fans to understand it wasn't about disrespecting the flag-- it was about a just cause-- then the owners, who were always worried about bottom line, who were always worried about their dollars, now are gonna run the risk of losing their dollars for the sake of Colin Kaepernick. And unfortunately, owners just aren't that selfless. You don't become a billionaire by being selfless. That's not how it works.

- And as you were saying, too, Emmanuel-- different cities, different owners, different politics. It's all part of that equation, as you said.

You mentioned the 32 owners. Only two of them are people of color, and only three non-interim head coaches are black. Wow. Seems like there's a long way to go there, too, right?

EMMANUEL ACHO: Yeah, but the issue, Andy, is that so many people think the NFL is a meritocracy. However hard you work, you'll earn your success. It's not. It's really based off nepotism and cronyism.

Nepotism, you hire your family, and cronyism, you hire your friends. Historically, if the NFL was founded by white men, white men are hiring their family-- nepotism-- white men. They're hiring their friends-- cronyism-- white men. So how do you think that the NFL will change if it's historically founded by white men who are looking out for other white men? It won't.

And so, that's why it's not a coincidence when you see only 3 out of 32 coaches, full-time, who began the season, or whatever the statistic may be, are black. That's not a coincidence. That's just the way in which our world at large works, and the NFL is a reflection of that.