>As free agency kicked off the start of a new football season Terrelle Pryor Sr. Color Rush Jersey , the NFL sent a clear message to anyone paying attention:Colin Kaepernick, you’re still not wanted.Probably not ever.Oh, and while we’re at it, it’s pretty clear the owners have every intention of clamping down on any other players who tries to carry on Kaepernick’s legacy.Rattled by another big dip in the television ratings and an increasing number of empty seats, the league seems determined to banish peaceful protest from the playing field.While it’s quite a stretch to say those trends are intimately related 鈥?injuries, bad games and poor showings by several of the league’s most popular teams were surely bigger factors in the waning popularity 鈥?the guys sitting on what remains an enormous cash cow aren’t taking any chances.Since Kaepernick is the one who got this whole thing started by having the audacity to silently kneel during the national anthem to protest racial injustice 鈥?the nerve of that guy! 鈥?his career could very well be over.Never mind that he’s undoubtedly more talented than many of the quarterbacks who still have paying jobs.Just look at those who have already agreed to new deals heading into the 2018 season.鈥?Kirk Cousins , who has a losing career record as a starter and has yet to win a playoff game.鈥?Case Keenum , coming off a marvelous season with the Minnesota Vikings but definitely a candidate for one-year wonder.鈥?AJ McCarron , who has just three starts in four years.鈥?Mike Glennon , saddled with an awful career record of 6-16.鈥?Tom Savage , who went 1-6 as the Texans’ starter last season.鈥?Chase Daniel, the epitome of a journeyman.鈥?Josh McCown , who is 38 years old and, despite the lack of any apparent success over his long career, keeps landing on his feet.While all those guys keep cashing checks Shaquem Griffin Jersey , Kaepernick was working out privately on a field in Houston , quietly going through the grind with only the help of his personal trainers, apparently still hopeful of restarting his career.His optimism is likely misplaced.While there’s always a chance of some owner breaking ranks to sign Kaepernick, the possibility grows less likely with each passing day. If anything, the owners are intent on nipping social consciousness in the bud. Stephen Ross of the Miami Dolphins probably spoke out loud what most owners are saying behind closed doors when he was quoted as saying his players would be required to stand for the national anthem this season.Ross quickly backtracked, saying his comments were “misconstrued,” but a statement explaining his position left no doubt that he’s had enough of taking a knee.“I’m passionate about the cause of social justice, and I feel that kneeling is an ineffective tactic that alienates more people than it enlists,” he said.There was also a report from the Houston Chronicle that Texans owner Robert McNair doesn’t want to acquire players who have engaged in protests or might be likely to going forward. While the team quickly denied the report, McNair’s stance on such issues is apparent to everyone. At an owners meeting last year, he grumbled that “we can’t have the inmates running the prison” 鈥?a remark that prompted most of his players to join arms and kneel before their next game .Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks cut ties with two of their most outspoken players, Michael Bennett and Richard Sherman . While a point could be made that these moves were strictly designed to clear room under the salary cap and rebuild an aging defense, one couldn’t help but wonder if their support of Kaepernick’s protest contributed to the moves.After clearly being blackballed last season, Kaepernick filed a grievance alleging the owners colluded to keep him out of the league . But it would probably take a mass walkout by all the fellow players to get him back on the field Arden Key Color Rush Jersey , and that’s not happening.There’s too much money at stake to risk it all for a single player, no matter how unjustly he’s been treated. Even if all the players could come together as one, chances are their protest would collapse as soon as they miss a few paychecks, just as it did during the infamous 1987 strike when a plethora of big-name players crossed the picket line.So, as we get started on a new NFL season, Kaepernick can expect to keep working out in solitude, at least until he decides on another line of work.A bunch of less-qualified quarterbacks will continue to hold jobs.The only message we can send:Shame on you, NFL.Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberryap.org or at Christian Scotland-Williamson looks the part.
Standing on the practice field with the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the rookie tight end blends in seamlessly. The 25-year-old is tall (6-foot-9), big (275 pounds) and athletic.
Then Scotland-Williamson opens his mouth. A polite British accent comes out, the kind that would go unnoticed on a soccer pitch, but on a field crammed with dozens of players practically weaned on America’s Game, it raises eyebrows. Lots of eyebrows.
Scotland-Williamson gets it. The former rugby player who was raised in the London suburbs understands he’s a bit of a curiosity as a member of the second graduating class of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. At the heart of it all, however, Scotland-Williamson figures the only thing separating him from his teammates is experience. Not passion. Not athleticism. And certainly not drive.
”It’s one of those things where when I was younger Atlanta Falcons Jerseys Womens , if I’d been exposed to American football I probably would have played it at an earlier age,” Scotland-Williamson said. ”But being a British kid, it’s not at your doorstep, so it’s quite hard.”
So Scotland-Williamson opted for rugby. He turned professional at 20 and spent four seasons with the Worcester Warriors of the English Premiership, the top rugby division in the United Kingdom. Then cameras caught him making a monster tackle in a game last spring and his phone rang, with folks wondering if he’d like to come to the U.S. and join the IPP.
Started in 2017, the IPP selects a handful of athletes from other countries to come to the U.S. to learn the finer points of pro football. If they make it through a four-month boot camp at IMG Academy in Florida, they can be assigned to an NFL club, where they will spend a season on the practice squad to prove themselves in what amounts to one of the most unusual internships on the planet.
Though Scotland-Williamson’s rugby career appeared on the rise, the prospect of heading overseas was simply too tantalizing to pass up.
”It’s kind of like that movie `Inception,’ once one plants that seed, that’s it,” he said. ”I’m very much someone who doesn’t want to live with any regrets and look back at 50 or 60 years old at a bar with your mates and think, `Oh no, what if I could have done this but didn’t.’ So that’s why I’m here really.”
The initial IPP graduation class last spring included three athletes from the United Kingdom and another from Germany. The current group includes Scotland-Williamson and Australian rugby player Jordan Mailata Christian Kirk Jersey Elite , who impressed the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles so much they used a seventh-round draft pick on him to make sure he didn’t end up somewhere else.
Scotland-Williamson is not quite as polished. He understood little about the game outside of what he occasionally saw on TV when he arrived in Florida in January. The highly regimented day started with a 6 a.m. walkthrough and often lasted until a film session at a coach’s house that wouldn’t wrap up until around 9:30 p.m.
”We learned a hell of a lot in a short amount of time,” Scotland-Williamson said.
Just not everything. Though he’s studied up on the 100-plus page NFL rule book, he admits he’s still a little fuzzy on details in some spots. And while the film work certainly helps, it’s quite a bit different when you have your helmet on standing in an offensive huddle listening to a quarterback bark out a play that has very specific instructions. Compared to rugby’s more free-flowing style, it’s a lot to take in.
The evidence can be found on the practice field. While Scotland-Williamson thinks he’s handling his business just fine as a blocker, route running is another matter. The player who never donned so much as a football helmet until rookie minicamp earlier this month practically staples himself to tight ends coach James Daniel, hoping to soak up as much as he can as fast as he can.
Yet Scotland-Williamson understands he can’t rush things. That’s why he’s grateful the opportunity didn’t arise until his mid-20s. Spending four years as a professional rugby player taught him how to deal with bumps in the road.
”I have a better perspective,” he said. ”Especially with this where you’re going to get your butt kicked every day for a while until things start clicking. You have to have quite thick skin, so that’s helped.”
So does a bit of a thick head. When he told his parents he was putting his rugby career on hold to give football a try, his father balked.
”I had to give him a massive sales pitch,” Scotland-Williamson said.
That included one very important point: This wasn’t a lark or a publicity stunt or fulfilling some bit of wanderlust. This was real.
”I don’t think you go into this half-hearted,” he said. ”You want it all. You want to make the 53 (man roster). You want to go to Super Bowls. You want to end up being the first international player to make it big. That’s the biggest thing, not only to represent myself, but it means a lot for the international players who were born outside of America who don’t think they have a chance.”
—
.
Standing on the practice field with the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the rookie tight end blends in seamlessly. The 25-year-old is tall (6-foot-9), big (275 pounds) and athletic.
Then Scotland-Williamson opens his mouth. A polite British accent comes out, the kind that would go unnoticed on a soccer pitch, but on a field crammed with dozens of players practically weaned on America’s Game, it raises eyebrows. Lots of eyebrows.
Scotland-Williamson gets it. The former rugby player who was raised in the London suburbs understands he’s a bit of a curiosity as a member of the second graduating class of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. At the heart of it all, however, Scotland-Williamson figures the only thing separating him from his teammates is experience. Not passion. Not athleticism. And certainly not drive.
”It’s one of those things where when I was younger Atlanta Falcons Jerseys Womens , if I’d been exposed to American football I probably would have played it at an earlier age,” Scotland-Williamson said. ”But being a British kid, it’s not at your doorstep, so it’s quite hard.”
So Scotland-Williamson opted for rugby. He turned professional at 20 and spent four seasons with the Worcester Warriors of the English Premiership, the top rugby division in the United Kingdom. Then cameras caught him making a monster tackle in a game last spring and his phone rang, with folks wondering if he’d like to come to the U.S. and join the IPP.
Started in 2017, the IPP selects a handful of athletes from other countries to come to the U.S. to learn the finer points of pro football. If they make it through a four-month boot camp at IMG Academy in Florida, they can be assigned to an NFL club, where they will spend a season on the practice squad to prove themselves in what amounts to one of the most unusual internships on the planet.
Though Scotland-Williamson’s rugby career appeared on the rise, the prospect of heading overseas was simply too tantalizing to pass up.
”It’s kind of like that movie `Inception,’ once one plants that seed, that’s it,” he said. ”I’m very much someone who doesn’t want to live with any regrets and look back at 50 or 60 years old at a bar with your mates and think, `Oh no, what if I could have done this but didn’t.’ So that’s why I’m here really.”
The initial IPP graduation class last spring included three athletes from the United Kingdom and another from Germany. The current group includes Scotland-Williamson and Australian rugby player Jordan Mailata Christian Kirk Jersey Elite , who impressed the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles so much they used a seventh-round draft pick on him to make sure he didn’t end up somewhere else.
Scotland-Williamson is not quite as polished. He understood little about the game outside of what he occasionally saw on TV when he arrived in Florida in January. The highly regimented day started with a 6 a.m. walkthrough and often lasted until a film session at a coach’s house that wouldn’t wrap up until around 9:30 p.m.
”We learned a hell of a lot in a short amount of time,” Scotland-Williamson said.
Just not everything. Though he’s studied up on the 100-plus page NFL rule book, he admits he’s still a little fuzzy on details in some spots. And while the film work certainly helps, it’s quite a bit different when you have your helmet on standing in an offensive huddle listening to a quarterback bark out a play that has very specific instructions. Compared to rugby’s more free-flowing style, it’s a lot to take in.
The evidence can be found on the practice field. While Scotland-Williamson thinks he’s handling his business just fine as a blocker, route running is another matter. The player who never donned so much as a football helmet until rookie minicamp earlier this month practically staples himself to tight ends coach James Daniel, hoping to soak up as much as he can as fast as he can.
Yet Scotland-Williamson understands he can’t rush things. That’s why he’s grateful the opportunity didn’t arise until his mid-20s. Spending four years as a professional rugby player taught him how to deal with bumps in the road.
”I have a better perspective,” he said. ”Especially with this where you’re going to get your butt kicked every day for a while until things start clicking. You have to have quite thick skin, so that’s helped.”
So does a bit of a thick head. When he told his parents he was putting his rugby career on hold to give football a try, his father balked.
”I had to give him a massive sales pitch,” Scotland-Williamson said.
That included one very important point: This wasn’t a lark or a publicity stunt or fulfilling some bit of wanderlust. This was real.
”I don’t think you go into this half-hearted,” he said. ”You want it all. You want to make the 53 (man roster). You want to go to Super Bowls. You want to end up being the first international player to make it big. That’s the biggest thing, not only to represent myself, but it means a lot for the international players who were born outside of America who don’t think they have a chance.”
—
.
