Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy spoke with reporters this week and had some words about “free agent” Colin Kaepernick, specifically why he hasn’t been signed. Simple put… he’s not good enough as a player to be worthwhile to any time with the “distraction” he would cause. And while he acknowledged the former 49er’s First Amendment rights he went on to say that there are better platforms to showcase ones beliefs.
“In this country, you can believe what you want — freedom of speech,” he said. “I think maybe they can choose a better platform to state their beliefs.”
“It’s a lot more than just he’s not on the team because he doesn’t want to stand for the national anthem,” said McCoy. “That may have something to do with it, but I think also it has a lot to do with his play. I’m sure a lot of teams wouldn’t want him as their starting quarterback. That chaos that comes along with it, it’s a lot.”
“As a team, trying to win and not have a distraction on the team, I just take that as a player — there’s certain players that could be on the team with big distractions, and there’s other players that it’s not good enough or not worth it. I think his situation is not good enough to have him on the team with all the attention that comes along with it. I’m sure if a guy like [Tom] Brady or a guy like whoever is your favorite player — Odell Beckham or a guy like that — you’ll deal with that attention and play him,” said the Buffalo Bill.
Then McCoy was asked about Michael Vick, the former Altanta Falcons QB, due to the fact that he managed to find a team again despite his time spent in jail due to dog fighting saying that Vick was a better player than Kaepernick and for a team, worth all the baggage that came along with him.
“[Vick’s]10 times better than Kaepernick,” he said. “You’ll deal with that situation, that attention, that media aspect of it. The good, the bad attention you’ll get. Compared to Kaepernick, it’s like, he’s not really that good [enough] of a player to deal with.”
LeSean McCoy on Kaepernick: I think his situation is not good enough to have him on the team with all the attention that comes along with it pic.twitter.com/HrvfgeNsBP
— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) August 24, 2017
McCoy again resisted the racist conspiracy theories surrounding Kaepernick, suggesting some “outside of sports don’t really know” the full picture. “They see only one side of black guy standing up for a good reason [and] the NFL is against him, but I think it’s more than that. I think it has to do with some of that. But also, dealing with him with him on the team you’re trying to build together. There’s so many outsiders [that] can mess up a team,” he said. “I can see both sides, I really can.”
