The Kneel Down — my boycott against the NFL over Kaepernick

I don't want to do this.

That's what I told my high school freshman football coach in my first and only year playing football at any level. I was getting beat up in practice and didn't have a clue what I was actually supposed to do as a third string "nose" tackle.

And I was doing all this at a school not exactly known for its football program, so there was literally no fame or glory for getting bruised and abused each practice.

I was going to quit the team. Quit football.

However, a swift kick in the keister from my mom provided enough, uh, encouragement for me not to give up on a sport I dedicated so much time and effort to. I lost weight, gained social skills, and genuinely began to love the game. I loved it even more once I stepped off the field and watched and learned with each passing day.

I haven't stopped loving football, and more succinctly the NFL, since I was introduced to it in 1999.

Until today.

I'll try not to belabor the point. This is about Colin Kaepernick and the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback apparently being blackballed out of the NFL.

This all started when Kaepernick first sat, then knelt for the national anthem throughout the 2016 NFL preseason and regular season in protest of the killings of black people by police, many of whom didn't face so much as an indictment and even more who didn't get convicted.

Fervent disagreement raged with a section of the NFL viewership and it is thought many of them stopped watching the games in response to Kaepernick's protest. Kaep finished the season with 16 TDs and 4 INTs in 11 starts in his final season with the 49ers prior to heading into free agency this offseason.

He is still unsigned.

Many articles have described Kaepernick's abilities as a quarterback as being good enough to, at the very least, make an NFL roster and, at most, start for a team in a league starved for talent at that position. Most football observers deem the quarterback "the most important position in the league," yet Kaep can't seem to secure so much as a roster spot. Even Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has mentioned that there's a lot of bad quarterbacks out there signed in the league (AHEM, Jets!), yet is taken aback that Kaepernick remains unsigned.

It's clear in recent weeks — even months — that the socially conscious quarterback's talent level isn't what has held him back. Ideally, sports should be the one arena where meritocracy reigns, yet somehow misses the mark when it comes to Kaepernick.

This, even after Kaep has since announced he would no longer kneel during the national anthem.

NFL team owners appear to care more about fan backlash over Kaepernick taking a knee -- perhaps even why Kaep was taking a knee in the first place -- than the potential backlash from fans who see the Know Your Rights Campaign advocate as someone to look up to.

This is unacceptable. And it's something I can no longer tolerate as a fan of a league — frankly ESPN shares a substantial portion of the blame for this decision too — who would gladly accept Hank Williams Jr. and his "ready for some football" theme for Monday Night Football despite Williams Jr. being a noted racist, among other things.

So I'm quitting football. Again.

This time, though, it'll be off the field and, mostly, out of sight and mind.

This is a formal declaration of my boycott against the NFL. Honestly though, I've paid less and less attention to most of the offseason as well as real football-intensive stories. I have yet to watch a single preseason game, which is something I always watch at least a quarter of.

I've detached myself almost entirely from the sport -- more on that in a bit.

I will not watch a single game, tweet or post highlights on any form of public social media of the 2017 season. I will not promote the game. During this season, I will not wear any NFL clothing, as this is also a form of promotion. I will not watch NFL RedZone or the NFL Network and plan to cut them from my cable package entirely.

Fantasy football will be my Achilles heel to this band, as I will remain active in my leagues. Some boycotts already established include skipping fake football as well. Even as the NFL seems to benefit from fantasy, it's indirect, and won't help or hurt ratings so long as I don't watch or promote the actual games on the field. Admittedly, this boycott is far from a perfect one, but I'm just being honest in what I can truthfully fulfill.

There's also an entire list out there of NFL sponsors, which I plan not to patronize during this boycott.

I plan to do this until either Colin Kaepernick has a job as an NFL quarterback or until the end of the 2017 season.

I don't want to do this.

But I feel compelled.

Someone on my Facebook timeline essentially made this point: Kaepernick stood up for us — black people and other people of color — by kneeling and we can't stand up for him in return?

That point has been eating at me for months.

I can't, with any kind of conscience, ignore that I can't watch this happen to Kaepernick without taking a stand for him.

I do want to be clear on this. I don't disparage anyone who can't or won't join this boycott or anyone else's.

I get it.

The NFL is the most popular sport in this country for a variety of reasons. Personally it will not be easy for me to stop consuming a game cold turkey that I loved to watch, write, read and even cover (if you can count once nationally syndicated fantasy and locally published NFL columns in small town dailies "coverage") for almost two decades.

This, however, must be done. Just like those against Kaep and his stances, I have a voice too.

Maybe the NFL will actually listen to people who feel just like me.

— Joey Baskerville; joey.baskerville@gmail.com