JAY-Z on Kaepernick and the NFL: “All we get stuck on [is] Colin not having a job”
Speaking at a press conference next to Roger Goodell, JAY-Z said that he’d talked to Kaepernick about Roc Nation’s deal with the NFL, but wouldn’t divulge what was said.
NFL Commissioner and sentient polo shirt Roger Goodell appeared at a press conference with JAY-Z this morning to talk about Roc Nation's new entertainment and social justice partnership with the league. According to a report from Charles Holmes of Rolling Stone, who was at the Roc Nation offices for the event, the assembled press corps was keen to hear the two men's thoughts on the deal in light of Colin Kaepernick's continued unemployment and the NFL's almost preternatural ability to shoot itself in the dick at every turn.
JAY-Z, who says he spoke to Kaepernick about the deal but wouldn't tell the media what exactly they discussed, said that the partnership was the successful next step of the blacklisted quarterback's protest. “I think that we forget that Colin’s whole thing was to bring attention to social injustice, correct?” he said, according to Holmes. “So in that case this is a success; this is the next thing. ‘Cause there’s two parts of protesting. You go outside and you protest, and then the company or the individual says, ‘I hear you. What do we do next?’ So for me it was like, action, actionable item, what are we going to do with it? Everyone heard and we hear what you’re saying, and everybody knows I agree with what you’re saying. So what are we going to do? So we should, millions of millions of people, and all we get stuck on [is] Colin not having a job.”
Goodell was also asked if the deal might be a little "disingenuous" given that Kapernick is still unemployed three years after first peacefully protesting police brutality and systematic racism in America by kneeling during the anthem. Goodell, in response, danced around the point like a mime artist. “We talked about a variety of issues," he said. "I think when we first met we talked about entertainment and how we do that, but the number one thing we went to was impact. We can have an impact together. We can do some really positive things in our community. So to go to Jay’s point, we listen to our players. We understood what our players were saying and we created a platform, in which to help drive change in communities that Colin has raised and that other players have raised. This partnership in addition to the entertainment aspect of branded football and music together is going to help us make even greater change. We call it protest to progress.”
Colin Kaepernick is fully fit. I'd say there's a 50-50 chance that Nathan Peterman takes a snap in an NFL game before November.