Stephen A. Smith on Colin Kaepernick: He Needs to Shut Up and Show He Can Play
By Kyle Koster
Colin Kaepernick is working out for NFL teams on Saturday, if you hadn't already deduced through scrolling your high school classmates' angry Facebook screeds. Stephen A. Smith, the most handsomely paid pundit at ESPN, had some reporting to share on the topic and did so on Golic & Wingo this morning.
“Only Colin Kaepernick can mess this up, it’s beyond all that other stuff now.”
— Golic and Wingo (@GolicAndWingo) November 13, 2019
-@stephenasmith on what he’s been told about Kaepernick’s workout in front of NFL teams Saturday. pic.twitter.com/zXer6qQeSD
Smith said he's been told directly that there are only two things that will prevent Kaepernick from having a job in the NFL. The first is fairly obvious: If the quarterback can't throw the football anymore and just tanks the on-field test. Then there's the second.
"The other thing that could be a hinderance is if he opens his damn mouth and starts talking too much and scares these teams off and gives them the indication that more of what transpired -- what led to all of this -- will continue forward."
Smith then offered some advice for the job-seeker.
"He needs to shut up. No Instagram. No Twitter. No anything. Show up Saturday, work out. Don't say a word before then."
For the record, here's the extent of what Kaepernick has said publicly since news of the tryout leaked out.
I’m just getting word from my representatives that the NFL league office reached out to them about a workout in Atlanta on Saturday. I’ve been in shape and ready for this for 3 years, can’t wait to see the head coaches and GMs on Saturday.
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) November 13, 2019
Kaepernick has posted all of three times on Instagram since the NFL season began. You can see why a loose cannon like that would be well-advised to tone it down a notch.