San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has had a very, very bad couple of weeks. It began when he was called out by a Miami Herald reporter for wearing a T-shirt that praised Fidel Castro. It deepened when Kaepernick responded by doubling down on his praise for the brutal dictator (who happened to die two days later). It got significantly worse that Sunday when the struggling QB took the field at the Miami Dolphins stadium to thunderous, relentless boos. And it ended this Sunday when he got re-benched after taking more sacks than he had passing yards.
A few highlights from Kaepernick’s miserable stats against the Chicago Bears this Sunday:
- He managed to complete a single pass in the three quarters he played, going just 1 for 5 for a total of 4 yards before getting yanked.
- He was more than 6 times as productive going the opposite direction, getting sacked 5 times for 25 yards.
- He was replaced in the fourth quarter by Blaine Gabbert who went 4 for 10 for a total of 35 yards (8 times more yards). Gabbert was sacked once.
- His usual productivity on the ground was limited to just 20 yards on 6 carries (3.3 yards per carry).
- His total QBR was a brutal 39.6.
- He helped extend the 49ers losing streak to 11, a franchise record.
One good result from the game: The 49ers have put themselves in strong contention for the second overall pick of the 2017 draft, where they can pick up a real quarterback. Kaepernick, meanwhile, plans to test free agency.
As the Daily Wire reported two weeks ago, on a phone call with the press a few days before his game against the Miami Dolphins, a reporter from a family of Cuban refugees called out Kaepernick for wearing a T-shirt to a press conference in August featuring an image of Castro and Malcolm X, with the caption, “Like minds think alike.”
“I’m not talking about Fidel Castro and his oppression. I’m talking about Malcolm X and what he’s done for people,” said Kaepernick in response to the clearly incensed reporter’s question about honoring the oppressive autocrat. When the reporter wouldn’t let him change the topic, Kaepernick decided to go all in and openly praise Castro (and slam his own country, again).
“One thing that Fidel Castro did do is they have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education system than they do in their prison system—which we do not do here, even though we’re fully capable of doing that,” said Kaepernick.
When the Cuban reporter hit back by citing Castro’s infamous record of destroying families, Kaepernick responded by accusing of America of doing the same thing. “We do break up families here,” he said. “That’s what mass incarceration is. That was the foundation of slavery, so our country has been based on that as well as the genocide of Native Americans.”
Like this Sunday against the Bears, Kaepernick’s 49ers lost that Sunday against the Dolphins when the quarterback’s last-second attempt to get into the endzone came up two yards short to the delight of the exultant Miami fans.
H/T The Daily Caller.