Dolphins owner Stephen Ross won an award last night. He also likely earned himself a ticket to testify in the Colin Kaepernick collusion grievance.
The comments from Ross regarding anthem protests, which he supported until it became politically problematic, fit the narrative that Kaepernick, the face of the anthem protests, is bad for business. And because he’s bad for business, he has had no further business opportunities, even as a guy who has never thrown more than 14 touchdown passes in any NFL season has missed most of two years due to a devastating knee injury gets consideration for a starting job.
Collusion doesn’t have to involve a secret meeting among 32 billionaires. Collusion can happen when the one body that holds all 32 teams together -- the league office -- sends a consistent message to all teams that may otherwise be interested in Kaepernick.
If it has become bad for business, in the estimation of Stephen Ross, to support anthem protests, has it been bad for business to embrace Kaepernick? That’s what Kaepernick’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, will be trying to prove based on text messages, emails, and testimony. Unforced errors like the one offered up by Stephen Ross on Monday night will serve only to make that job easier.