A former top NFL executive believes a team should sign Colin Kaepernick immediately, given the unrest that has taken hold in the country amid protests against racial injustice and police brutality.
Joe Lockhart, who served as NFL vice president for communications and government affairs from 2016-18, was part of commissioner Roger Goodell's team that dealt with the public relations fallout when Kaepernick began kneeling in protest during the pregame national anthem.
"The commissioner and several other league executives spent a lot of effort prodding and pushing owners to sign him," Lockhart wrote in a CNN op-ed titled "Now is the moment to sign Colin Kaepernick" published early Saturday.
Lockhart detailed how the kneeling protest led to Kaepernick losing his job. He wrote that Goodell tried to persuade a team to sign the quarterback, and that the league attempted to improve race relations during his tenure there.
"Though Kaepernick didn't get his job back, I thought we had all done a righteous job, considering," Lockhart wrote. "I was wrong. I think the teams were wrong for not signing him. Watching what's going on in Minnesota, I understand how badly wrong we were."
Lockhart even made a direct plea to Minnesota Vikings owners Ziggy and Mark Wilf; Minneapolis has been one of the epicenters of protest and is where a black man named George Floyd died in police custody Monday after a white officer knelt on his neck.
"Send a strong message by offering Colin Kaepernick a contract to play with the Vikings," Lockhart wrote. "Bring him into camp, treat him like any of the other players given a chance to play the game they love. It will not solve the problem of blacks and police violence. But it will recognize the problem that Kaepernick powerfully raised, and perhaps show that, with courage, real progress can be made."
Prior to his stint with the NFL, Lockhart worked in politics and consulting, and was President Bill Clinton's press secretary from 1998-2000.
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May 31, 2020 at 03:50AM
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Ex-NFL communications leader Joe Lockhart says a team should sign Colin Kaepernick immediately - USA TODAY
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