It was all so blatantly predictable that a blind referee could see it coming.  A young, dumb, idealistic professional football player decides to put his politics ahead of his game, and worse, ahead of his team, and then gets manipulated by the cynical leftists who now control sports broadcasting so as to support their own leftist views.  Can anyone guess the result?  Of course you can, because common sense would lead anyone to the conclusion that the manipulated kid is in big trouble.

Colin Kaepernick had his seasons and it is likely that this last one will be his American twilight.  For some as yet undisclosed reason, this talented young quarterback decided to disrespect his flag, his national anthem, and his nation – a nation that had readily taken him in as a young refugee from a war-torn area of Africa and given him the opportunity to rise to the summit of professional football as a Super Bowl (losing) quarterback of the San Francisco Forty-Niners.

Then he chose to spit in the face of our nation by defiantly refusing to stand for the National Anthem when it was played during the opening ceremonies of the NFL games in which his team played.  Whatever he was hoping to achieve, it blew up in his face like a Rachel Maddow exclusive.  Kaepernick immediately became the most hated football player in the NFL, and very unfortunately for him, at the same time his personal image was going into the toilet, his on-field performance was right behind, tanking ungracefully.

Now, unloved and unneeded by the Forty-Niners, Kaepernick confidently offered himself up to the NFL as a free agent, meaning that any team can hire him if they are willing to compensate the Forty-Niners for his contractual obligations.  Guess what!  No takers – no NFL team wants the terrible publicity issues that accompany Kaepernick wherever he might land.  Were he playing top-flight, NFL-quarterback football, some team might take the risk, but that's clearly not the case.  Kaepernick has done a real number on his career, and he may as well pack his bags for offshore play somewhere – Europe, perhaps.  But he's finished here – no NFL team wants the liability that comes with this young fool.

There should be a lesson here for athletes and movie stars and others whose livings are paid for by ticket purchases and TV remote selections, but it will assuredly fall on deaf ears.  Like Kaepernick, far too many of these performers feel compelled to belabor the nation with their unsolicited personal political views, making themselves champions to hardcore lefties but alienating the tens of millions who might otherwise have purchased a ticket or clicked on their game or movie.

Seriously, can anyone out there fault the NFL teams for taking a knee on Kaepernick?