Joe Montana: Colin Kaepernick isn't in the NFL for the same reason Tim Tebow isn't
Watch this. I’m going to send half my readership rushing to the comment section without reading another sentence. Ready?
Colin Kaepernick.
Neat trick, huh? Want to see me do it again?
Tim Tebow.
Now, for the five of you still with me, let’s dig into a story. Joe Montana, one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, on Tuesday discussed the saga of fellow ex-49er Kaepernick, one of the most famous quarterbacks in recent NFL history. Why, Montana was asked, isn’t Kaepernick signed with any team? And Montana gave the answer of sports media folks’ dreams.
“I’m not sure,” Montana said, per The Sporting News. “I think [if] there’s an injury somewhere he probably gets in … You look at Tim Tebow—a great guy and everybody was talking about him. But what it comes down to is 40 percent completion or even in the low 50s, you can’t win in the league with that. You won’t be in the league very long. It comes down to his play as much as anything.”
Tebow, for the record, had a completion percentage of 47.9 for 35 games. Kaepernick, on the other hand, had a completion percentage of 59.8 over 69 games; in fact, his lowest completion percentage in his career was 58.4. But if it’s not poor play, what else could be keeping Kaepernick out of the NFL?
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“Everyone thinks it is the stance he took,” Montana said. “One of the things you don’t look for is distractions in the locker room. You can go back to Bill Walsh and as soon as there were guys that weren’t fitting in what he was looking for, it didn’t matter how good you were. You weren’t on the team for very long. You have to have people who want the same thing, fighting for the same thing and willing to put in the time.”
There’s no need to parse Montana’s comments. If you’re still reading this—and especially if you’re not reading this, having already headed to the comment section—your opinion on Kaepernick and the reasons behind his absence from the league are likely set in stone. Maybe he’s not suitable to play backup. Maybe his kneeling during the anthem in protest of police violence upset too many of the wrong people. Maybe he’s a locker room distraction. Maybe he’s just not a good player any longer. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: Kaepernick is out of a job.
It’s worth noting, though, that Kaepernick was once drafted by the Cubs. You never know; he could go play baseball. Heck, it’s working out OK for Tebow.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
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