Wednesday’s episode of the KJ Podcast was all about Colin Kaepernick. Briefly, here are some topics discussed.
-Kaepernick will move the football better than Gabbert, but the 49ers will still lose games.
-Kelly comes out as the real winner of this. Both Trent Baalke and Kaepernick will likely be elsewhere next season Kelly might find himself as the new GM and will have three solid quarterbacks to look at in the draft — Deshaun Watson, DeShone Kizer and Brad Kaaya.
-There’s still a tiny chance the 49ers keep Kaepernick. If he realizes his only option is to be backup for a young rookie quarterback, he might take that instead of risking himself in free agency. Many conservative teams will mark him with a red X because of his political stances. Kelly and Kaepernick could form a bond through this season, especially if Kelly somehow winds up with personnel control again.
During the middle of the discussion, KNBR.com managing video editor Josh Lander and I had a discussion on Kaepernick’s leadership reach within the 49ers locker room, and how he’s pivoted himself to become a player who many look towards. His players only meeting in the preseason broke down a lot of walls and made the team tighter.
Jones: I want to bring it back to the locker room real quick. Eric Reid is one of the better NFL teammates that I’ve ever been around, or that I’ve observed. He talks to so many guys in the locker room, playful with the media, gives you good answers, plays really hard on the field, he’s in the weight room. You want so many Eric Reid’s on your football team.
Who does Eric Reid follow? Who does he follow in the locker room? Colin Kaepernick. Who does he kneel next to? Colin Kaepernick. People see Eric Reid doing this. Kaepernick, I’m telling you, he’s a night-and-day different person. He’s an activist and a leader. It’s really been fun to watch this unfold in the 49ers locker room. And the people that think he’s dividing the locker room, I don’t know if they’ve ever been in an NFL locker room. He’s brought it together.
Does that make him a better than NFL quarterback? I have no idea. But is his mind clearer, and his relationships with people better, and his mood better? Yeah. Can you process information better that way as a quarterback? Maybe. Who knows? We’ve got to see this, though.
Lander: I want to ask, don’t you hear the mutterings of other players who aren’t on Kap’s side? And I don’t think they’re mad at Kap as much as they are “the media.” Right? Maybe that’s not a divide of the locker room, but there’s a divide there of some kind when the media surrounds the backup quarterback who didn’t play and a lot of guys are mad they just fought their butts off, and nobody is giving them any attention.
Jones: What I am gathering from this players only meeting is that Kaepernick said I apologize for bringing extra media into the locker room, but I think the issues plaguing the country are so worth it that I’m willing to bring so much attention and a firestorm and I’m ready. It’s going to invade our locker room a little bit, and listen, I think our country is more important than football. Those are the types of discussions that went on and teammates were like, you know what? This is bigger than football. It really is. We can still focus and be a team with this going on.
Listen to the whole podcast here below: