The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
While I was away, the Eagles played a preseason football game against the Tennessee Titans. Normally, I would have very little interest in any of these games, particularly in the first one.
However, a major event occurred that could affect the entire Eagles’ season – backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld suffered a fractured wrist in his non-throwing hand. Doctors indicate he could be out for six weeks, which makes his return in late September.
Every Eagles fan is well aware of the injury history of Carson Wentz. He is healthy now, but, in the NFL, you are one play away from your season being over. Just look at last year. But, last year the Eagles had Nick Foles, who did a great job replacing Wentz. Foles is no longer on the team. He is now on the roster of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Every time there is a quarterback slot made available through injury, the name Colin Kaepernick comes to the forefront. He has not played since 2016. Is it worth taking the risk of alienating a large portion of the population by bringing in a talented player like Kaepernick? Will people ever forget he took a knee during the National Anthem to protest what he considered unjustified shootings of black Americans by the police? Philadelphia fans are not the most accepting in the league. If you thought booing Santa Claus was bad … (well, you finish the statement).
And Kaepernick’s story was back on the sports pages again this week when Race Imboden, who won a goal medal with two other USA teammates in the Pan Am foil competition, chose to take a knee during the National Anthem. “We must call for change,” he said. He pointed out the areas of “Racism, Gun Control, mistreatment of immigrants” were his major areas of concern. In protesting, however, he broke his commitment to the USA Pan Am teams to “refrain from demonstrations that are political in nature”.
But, in every one of the stories about the Imboden protest, Colin Kaepernick’s name is mentioned. The story will not die.
So, it is my opinion that the Eagles will stick with Cody Kessler and Clayton Thorson as the back-ups for now and consider a number of other possibilities before giving much thought to bringing in Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick just this week said that he continues to pursue an NFL job. He also continues to pay the price for doing what he considered to be the morally right thing to do.
When you make that kind of commitment, you must be willing to pay the consequences. For Kaepernick, those consequences continue. Stay tuned!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- If summer basketball tournaments are any indication, the winter EPC season should be a very, very competitive one. Allen, Easton, Emmaus, Freedom, Northampton, etc. all had special moments on the outdoor courts. I can wait, though, because high school football looks to be just as interesting.
- There obviously are no summer football games, but looking at Freedom, Emmaus, Parkland, Easton and the rest of the league, it appears that Friday night football (with a sprinkling of Saturday games) should make for a great season. So I can’t wait for those games to start.
- Speaking of the start of high school football, we will have our traditional Colonial League opener on August 23 when Notre Dame hosts Northwestern. Not only should the game be a good one, but Notre Dame will be dedicating their stadium to Deacon Anthony Koury. He was a great friend as AD and is most deserving of the honor.
- In the “You’ve got to be kidding” department, the Phillie Phanatic technically becomes a free agent next year and could be taken from the Phillies. This is a court case for sure.
- John Leone’s blog last week, which filled my space perfectly, noted that John recently retired from Lafayette College. Rest assured he has not retired from the RCN-TV broadcasting team. He will still sit alongside Chris Michael on Friday nights and be on the sideline for our Lafayette football games and alongside me for Lafayette basketball. We won’t let John retire.
