Did Pete Carroll, Seahawks Miss Mark with Colin Kaepernick?
With demonstrations and riots taking place in cities across the country in the wake of the tragic death of George Floyd, quarterback-turned-civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick has resurfaced as one of the faces behind the movement.
Four years after Kaepernick drew the ire of many for taking a knee during the national anthem, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll thinks the NFL made a huge mistake failing to recognize the former 49ers quarterback's message.
“I think that there was a moment in time that a young man captured. He took a stand on something, figuratively took a knee, but he stood up for something he believed in — and what an extraordinary moment it was that he was willing to take,” Carroll said.
For all intents and purposes, Carroll said all the right things while co-hosting the "Flying Coach" podcast with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich. The trio should be commended for their insightful discussions on police brutality, America's leadership void and possible solutions to social justice issues.
I believe Carroll is one of the most genuine coaches in the league. Talking with his players over the years, it's obvious he cares about each and every one of them. He's worked with players to develop a justice action fund, has held team meetings for players to discuss social justice issues, and has consistently stressed the importance of coaching the whole person, not just the football player.
Again, Carroll should be applauded for those efforts. He's done a lot of great things for a lot of people during his coaching career, whether at the college or NFL level.
When it comes to Kaepernick, however, spare me on the fluffy quotes. This isn't to say Carroll doesn't mean well. Unlike most of the league, the Seahawks did bring Kaepernick in for a visit in May 2017, though they chose not to sign him for a bizarre reason. He was ... too good?
“He’s a starter in this league,” Carroll told reporters. “We have a starter, but he is a starter in this league and I can’t imagine somebody won’t give him a chance to play.”
Ultimately, nobody else signed him and one year later, the Seahawks again explored signing Kaepernick as a backup, only for the scheduled visit and workout to be postponed and ultimately canceled. Various reports indicated the workout was postponed with the veteran quarterback because he wouldn't commit to ending his protest during the national anthem.
Teams aren't required to sign players and there could have been a number of other factors that led to Seattle's decision not to bring in Kaepernick. If he wanted too much money for a backup quarterback, then such a reason would have been justifiable. Maybe that was the case and just wasn't reported.
But if that last detail regarding the anthem protest demands was true, a strong argument can be made Carroll and the Seahawks were complicit in helping keep Kaepernick out of the league.
The NFL is a "win at all costs," bottom line business. Even though Russell Wilson has been an iron man and never missed an NFL start, there's no question Kaepernick would have been superior to Austin Davis or Brett Hundley, the two backups on Seattle's roster during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
"That's really a Pete [Carroll] question, but ultimately, he definitely could be on our roster," Wilson told reporters when asked if Seattle missed out on an opportunity to sign Kaepernick. "He can do a lot of great things and he's a really talented player, that's for sure."
From that perspective, the "he's a starter" commentary looks even sillier three years later, especially considering nobody else has signed him during that time.
Given his history of supporting players and being an advocate of social justice issues, Carroll shouldn't be a main target for criticism in regard to the NFL's failure to properly recognize racial inequality issues when most of the players in the league are black.
In Carroll's defense, the decision may not have been his to make. Late owner Paul Allen and other notable decision makers might have had input on a potential signing of Kaepernick and like other teams, there may have been fear of PR backlash and criticism from the fan base. That by itself isn't a good thing.
Listening to the podcast, Carroll also admitted he doesn't think he's done enough. In retrospect, he seems to have a better understanding of the statement Kaepernick was trying to make. That in itself is a good thing.
“We have to go beyond and act and take the action and it’s going to be a challenge for people. I feel frustrated I’m not doing enough,” Carroll said. “I’m not on it enough. I can’t get active enough to create the change. I think we need to make progress, not just change.”
Nonetheless, Carroll's explanation for not signing Kaepernick in 2017 remains a head scratcher and choosing to postpone his workout due to his unwillingness to end his protest now looks distasteful. Fair or not, not signing him lumps Carroll and the Seahawks together with the rest of the league that turned a blind eye to a talented player whose actions were clearly misunderstood.
