By Gregory Moore

ARLINGTON, Texas – So news finally came out Sunday night.

Colin Kaepernick was filing a grievance against the NFL for collusion.

For many it was, “it’s about time!!” but for the majority it was, “what?”

But if you really weren’t paying attention to the details, you were caught up in the anthem, police brutality and them damn socks.

But a few started to get whiff of something far greater; a labor issue.

It shouldn’t be hard to fathom here as to why Kaep filed the grievance; it’s week six people and have you looked at these quarterbacks out there?

I’m not going to even go with the top ten or fifteen guys. Let me just give you the guys ranked from #21 – #30 and their qbr ratings from ESPN Stats:
Jacoby Brissett – 48.6
Philip Rivers – 43.6
Derek Carr – 38.6
Jameis Winston – 43.2
Trevor Siemian – 43.8
Blake Bortles – 36.9
Andy Dalton – 39.3
Jay Cutler – 29.1
Brian Hoyer – 26.8
Joe Flacco – 30.6

What was Kaep’s in 2016? 49.5.

Okay seriously, are you trying to tell me that an owner would rather have a dude like Cutler or Bortles?

It’s rhetorical…don’t answer.

THE COLLUSION CASE ISN’T WINNEABLE BUT IT’S A FLASHLIGHT

Look this isn’t rocket science here folks. We all know that there is no way that Kaep could win a collusion case. BUT, what he is doing is shining this bright ass spotlight on an issue that will force the NFL to seriously come to grips with: social pressure.

See, what this case is doing is forcing the NFL to take a good hard look in the mirror and ask itself one question: why is this protest fine and that on isn’t?

What do I mean by protest?

Simple. It’s all about what causes the league deems “worthy”.

Those worthy causes have a monetary value to them.

Breast Cancer Awareness? Check the money.

Domestic Violence Awareness? Yup there’s money.

Salvation Army? Come on you know the deal.

Military recognition? Oh yeah there’s big money with this one.

These and so many other causes get the royal treatment because they are what society loves.

But a non-violent protest against something “sacred” to the league and its fans is a no go.

That’s why there are kneels to this day.

It’s why this whole anthem issue is a hot potato.

Now there is a solution to that issue on the national anthem: give the money back and have the players stay in the locker room.

But the league isn’t about to do that one. They love money far too much.

And it has an identity issue here because this protest isn’t going anywhere.

And neither is this “stench” that maybe some owners have decided to freeze out a decent QB because he decided to make a silent protest.

Eric Reid, his former teammate, said it best in an op/ed he pinned: “It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel. We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite. It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest.”

Look I get it.

A lot of people are saying that these guys shouldn’t be doing it during their “work hours”.

But let me ask you this?

If the owner of the 49ers was okay with this, and all he did was take knee for a few minutes, you can’t tell me that other clubs saw that and said, “oh hell naw. I don’t want that crap in this organization.”

Mind you now, some of these organizations have taken in drug offenders, domestic violence perpetrators and a few “rougher” dudes; if I may use the current POTUS’ lexicon.

And those dudes had jobs or got second, third, twelfth chances.

They say that it takes courage to live in your convictions.

I’m not gonna lie; I don’t know if I could have done what Kaep has done the past several months.

But I definitely admire his stance because in order to affect change, you sometimes have to be that scapegoat.

Can he prove collusion?

Hell I don’t know.

But I do know this…a spotlight is about to be shown in the NFL’s kitchen.

Ya’ll ever see what happens when the light comes out and roaches scatter?

Yeah it’s going to be one of those moments.

And change, in some form, is going to happen.