Some NFL Executives Are Now Using RG3's Unemployment To Rationalize Colin Kaepernick's Unemployment

MMQB:

Executive 1: “It’s not something we discussed, so to talk about reasoning, we’re talking hypotheticals. … Certainly he’s good enough to be a backup. … But we have a good No. 2, a guy that fits our system that we have familiarity with. He’s here for the same reason that [Dolphins coach] Adam Gase goes back to [Jay] Cutler. We know exactly what we’re going to get from the guy. Physically, Kaepernick’s more talented, but familiarity with a backup at that position, knowing exactly what you’re going to get, is more important than the ‘wow’ factor. … It’s like with [Robert Griffin III]; you had him playing a certain way, and he was a hell of a player. But as soon as defenses figured out what they were, and a specific way to play them, that’s where they had to be able to start to win from the pocket. If you can’t do that in this league, it’s tough.”

Executive 2: “From our end, it never got down to [going to the owner]. To me, the protests, all that, it wasn’t even a factor for us. It was the ability to fit within our offense. He doesn’t throw the ball great, he’s more of an on-the-move, zone-read type of quarterback. He needs to be in a specific system. For us, it was a system thing. What he does well is totally outside what most teams do. And so here’s my question: I understand the Kaepernick deal, why it’s news, but nobody’s talking about RG3? I know since it’s Kaepernick, it’s what sells, but the problem that RG3 has getting a job is the same as Kaepernick for a lot of teams.”

Executive 3: “I don’t like the guy as a player. I don’t think he can play. I didn’t think he could play at Reno, I don’t think he can play now. … You don’t think if he was a good player, 20 teams would be lining up? …  He’s inaccurate, inconsistent reading defenses. He needs everything to be perfect around him, and he needs to run a certain offense. When he was rolling, they had an unbelievable defense and a great running game with an amazing offensive line. Everything was perfect. And you consider that, why isn’t there a debate about RG3? He just wasn’t a consideration.”

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Honestly, I'm shocked it took us until now to hear this one. After all, the best way to prove something isn't remotely racially motivated is to argue that all black, mobile quarterbacks are basically exactly the same. Never mind stats. Forget injury history. Context and circumstances are irrelevant when adopting the the polar opposite of the "You white? You Ben Affleck" approach to justifying the unemployment of a guy that had a 4:1 touchdown to interception ratio for a team that primarily employed skill position players that belong in the CFL. Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee on behalf of the rights of an entire race while RG3 is probably afraid to take a knee out of fear that he might fracture it, but you can deny that they are both fast, African American quarterbacks and thus comparable by every significant metric other than on-field performance and resume. 

Now admittedly, one has quietly handled becoming the target of a divided nation of football fans with class while the other couldn't get regulated to a backup role without getting pouty and punting footballs to himself on the practice field. Unfortunately, having a wildly superior level of leadership capabilities and mental toughness doesn't matter as much as having an shared inclination to play outside the pocket.
 
In all seriousness, score one for the "he's being blackballed" brigade. I have heard one single person make mention of RG-fucking-3's immature ass, and then all the sudden THREE different executives mention when while being interviewed for the same damn article? I don't think that all NFL owners are in some secret group text spitballing rationalizations, but this distinct line of parallel thinking is the type of thing that might appear out of absolutely nowhere if they were. Something to think about.