Liberals online are expressing dismay at a report that Tim Tebow will be rejoining the NFL while former San Francisco 49ers quarterback turned racial justice activist Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned for his fourth straight season.
The report: NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport and Tom Pelissero broke the news Monday that Tebow would be reuniting with his college coach Urban Meyer as a tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
- Tebow brought two national titles to the University of Florida under Meyer’s tutelage before his three-year stint in the NFL.
- The Heisman winner, who has not played regular season football since 2012 but has racked up several years of minor-league baseball experience, will sign a one-year deal.
- The former Broncos quarterback is largely untried at the tight end position, but commentators have long speculated that he would be a good fit.
The reaction: Liberals on Twitter lamented that the conspicuously Tebow, an outspoken Christian known for kneeling on the field “to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” is getting a second chance in the league while Kaepernick remains unsigned.
- Critics pointed out that Tebow has been out of the league longer than Kaepernick, who has not played since 2016, and suggested racism is to blame for the disparity in treatment.
- Sen. Corey Booker, a New Jersey Democrat and former championship-winning Stanford tight end, told TMZ that while Tebow’s signing is “a wonderful thing to see,” Kaepernick got “an awful deal.”
Context: Kaepernick popularized kneeling during the national anthem, a controversial protest against police brutality and racism, during his stint with the 49ers.
- In his time as an unsigned free agent, he has claimed that the NFL is blackballing him for his outspoken views, which have come to encompass radical proposals like prison abolition.
- But he has also pursued a variety of racial justice-related commercial ventures, including lucrative partnerships with Disney and Nike.