I had never heard of Austin Davis before Monday. He claims to have appeared in games for the Browns and Rams in early twenty-tens, but still, his name was foreign to me until he signed a deal to be a back-up quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Colin Kaepernick however, is a name I am familiar with. Kaepernick’s stardom at the University of Nevada coincided with the time I started to understand NFL and NCAA football. Since then Kap has experienced the highest of highs, almost winning Superbowl XLVII, to the lowest of lows, currently without an NFL home. Now that the Seahawks signed Davis, despite head coach Pete Carroll confirming that Kap is the better player, have we seen the end of Colin Kaepernick in the NFL?

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IN the past the NFL has obviously aimed to stamp out issues surrounding drugs, alcohol, domestic violence and in Kaepernick’s case, polarizing political views. We have seen though if your on field production outshines those issues, and they are few and far between, you can find a home in the NFL. Kapernick’s ‘off-field’ issues led to nationwide debate when he opted not to stand for the national anthem (first by sitting, then by kneeling) to bring light on the maltreatment of people of colour, mainly black people.

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FOR all of the flak that Kaepernick has copped, it’s not like he committed a crime or anything. He has protested his beliefs peacefully, yet his stand against racial inequality has to have been a large reason that Seattle didn’t sign him due to fears of fan backlash.. He definitely still has the skills to contribute that much is clear. Last season the San Francisco 49ers weren’t exactly a star studded bunch, and still in 11 starts (12 games total) Kap threw for over 2,000 yards, completing almost 60% of his passes along the way (59.2%). He also contributed an impressive 16 TD’s and just four INT’s, being one of only seven quarterbacks last season to boast a TD:INT ratio of four or greater. A number that surprised me regarding his skill is that Kaepernick owns the 5th best touchdown-interception ratio of all time through his 58 pro starts. The dual-threat capabilities of Kaepernick have always been a strength and feature of his game, rushing for 2,300 career yards with 13 scores. His most famous rushing game came against the Green Bay Packers during his post-season debut. Kaepernick broke the all time record for rushing yards in a single game by a QB, eclipsing Michael Vick’s 173 yards with 181 yards of his own.

ALL of those career stats and impressive numbers have been accumulated in just six seasons of pro football by Kaepernick. At the age of 29 there is no doubt that he still has plenty left to offer an NFL franchise willing to look past his potential issues. However, through four months of offseason transactions, he still finds himself without a team, and Seattle were the only team who have allowed Kaepernick a visit. Anyone with his resume would be on an NFL list if it wasn’t for an owner’s concerns over his protests. It’s probably safe to say that Davis took Kaepernick’s last chance at a roster spot and he’ll have to cross his fingers that a training camp injury paves the way for him to join a squad. Don’t hold your breath Colin.

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