Kaepernick passes on AAF
Why play in the AAF when he can get paid not to play in the NFL?
Running off at the typewriter ...
First we found out Thursday that Colin Kaepernick turned down a chance to play in the Alliance of American Football, and then Friday the news broke that Kaepernick reached a financial settlement with the NFL concerning his collusion grievances against the league.
First things first: Is anybody really surprised the NFL settled financially with Kaepernick? I’m no legal expert, but you just knew that’s where this case was headed as soon as we found out Commissioner Roger Goodell, along with several owners and at least two other NFL executives, were selected to be deposed and asked to turn over all cellphone records and emails in relation to Kaepernick.
No way, no how did NFL owners want their private emails made public. Who knows whether there was actual collusion, but does anybody doubt there would have been some potentially volatile and embarrassing correspondence among some of these old white owners kibitzing about Kaepernick?
I realize there will always be Kaepernick critics who don’t agree with him kneeling in protest during the national anthem (I’ll admit I wasn’t crazy about it myself ), but at least acknowledge
that these silent protests are the ONLY reason he’s not on an NFL roster while Cody Kessler,
Brandon Weedon and Brock Osweiler are. And please don’t be one of those boneheads on social media who tweet out that if Kaepernick really wanted to play football, he’d go play in the AAF. Puh-leeze. The AAF, as Orlando Apollos coach Steve Spurrier often says, is a league of opportunity for players to prove they are good enough to be in the NFL. Colin Kaepernick has already proved that.
Do you really think lighting it up while playing quarterback for the Salt Lake Stallions is going to convince an NFL owner to give Kaepernick another chance?
Besides, it’s not as if Kaepernick needs a job. He’s doesn’t even need to play to get paid by the NFL.
We saw this Friday, when the league presumably paid him a boatload of hush money just to go away. hush money, PGA Tour golfer
Matt Kuchar — who grew up right here in Central Florida and is a graduate of Seminole High in Sanford — finally made such a payment Friday. Kuchar had been getting barbecued in the national media for paying a local Mexican fill-in caddie only $5,000 after Kuchar collected $1.3 million in winnings.
In November, Kuchar decided to enter a tournament — the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico — at the last minute when his regular looper John Wood was unavailable. Kuchar then hired a local fill-in, David Ortiz, and agreed to pay him $3,000 for the week — an amount Ortiz accepted.
Kuchar told GolfChannel.com that he ended up paying Ortiz $5,000 instead of the original $3,000. However, Ortiz told media outlets he expected a significant bonus — a total of $50,000 — if Kuchar actually won.
“There was a complete, agreed-upon deal that not only did I meet but exceeded,” Kuchar told GolfChannel.com. “I was really happy for [Ortiz] to make a good sum of money. Making $5,000 is a great week.”
Even though Kuchar’s comments may be true, they were perceived as arrogantly marginalizing Ortiz — especially considering that if Kuchar’s regular caddie had been on the bag, he would have likely collected about $130,000 instead of $5,000. Then again, regular caddies have written contracts, a vast knowledge of their golfer’s game and also must pay their own travel expenses.
Of course, none of this matters. It doesn’t matter that Ortiz apparently agreed to the original deal. What matters is Kuchar is being portrayed internationally as the biggest miser since Ebenezer Scrooge.
Kuchar finally succumbed to the PR backlash Friday when he agreed to pay Ortiz the $50,000 the caddie thought he deserved.
For crying out loud, Matt, you’ve made nearly $50 million in career winnings, and that doesn’t even count all of the endorsement money over the years. Why did it take three months for you to open your wallet, be a good guy and change this caddie’s life?
A deal may be a deal, but you came out looking like a heel. SHORT STUFF: Top three predictions for Sunday’s Daytona 500: (1) Jimmie Johnson will wreck somebody; (2) Tampa’s Aric Almirola will win the race; (3) At least one fan in the infield will have naked-lady mud flaps on his F-150 and be seen cleaning his ears with his truck keys. … Florida Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has decided to remain at UF after considering a multimillion-dollar offer to become the Cincinnati Bengals’ new defensive coordinator. Translation: The SEC has more money than the NFL. … Magic trade acquisition
Markelle Fultz said during his introductory news conference that the rare nerve disorder he has makes it hard for him to raise his arms and causes his fingers to numb. And you wonder why he can’t shoot anymore? It’s hard to shoot a ball if you can’t feel it in your hands or lift it over your head. … When asked about Magic coach Steve Clifford, Fultz said: “It just excites me to know that I have a coach who’s going to push you to be better and not just going to tell you what you want to hear.” Some in the Philly media took that quote and made it seem as if Fultz was taking an indirect shot at the 76ers and coach Brett Brown. Maybe he was, but I was there and I thought he was just trying to be complimentary of his new coach, not derogatory about his old one.
Two words that would make every professional sport 10 times better: one-year contracts. … In the span of a week, FSU has lost two big-time football recruits — not to Alabama, Ohio State or Georgia but to MARYLAND! This is like losing a “Battle of the Bands” to Insane Clown Posse. … Three reasons Major League Baseball is being dwarfed by the NFL and the NBA: (1) The sport’s biggest offseason story was when
Kyler Murray announced he wasn’t going to play baseball; (2) Garth Brooks is in spring training, but Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are not; (3) It’s the only sport where you can play 162 games and gain weight.
LAST WORD: On this Valentine’s Day week, here’s one of my favorite quotes about love:
“The brain is an amazing organ. It works 24⁄7, 365 from the day you’re born until the day you fall in love.” Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on FM 96.9 and AM 740.