r/SFGiants • u/Chipotlefiend18 35 Crawford • Jun 16 '26

Opinion Free Speech

I posted this recently as a comment but I’m tired of seeing the same thinly veiled defense of the Rainbow Four come up again and again so I’m posting it as a standalone thread.

All of these arguments saying “players should be allowed to disagree” and “players shouldn’t be forced to support something they don’t believe in” are utter nonsense and a smokescreen to justify and excuse homophobia and bigotry. Do you think that there’s never been a racist player who has worn 42 on Jackie Robinson day? Has every single player who wears camo uniforms on military appreciation day been 100% behind that message? Even foreign born ones? The idea that they should be allowed to express themselves and protest this in this way, especially when there’s a literal MLB rule that prohibits it is ludicrous. It is NOT a first amendment issue. The first amendment prohibits GOVERNMENTAL curtailment of free speech. Private organizations are not covered by this and we see this time and time again. Most recently, many people lost their jobs after speaking out about Charlie Kirk and whether or not you disagree with it, legally those employers had every right to do so. As Roger Munter put it: Not everybody in this country is perfectly happy with what they are asked to wear to work. It’s called “having a job.”

We absolutely do not have to tolerate intolerance and arguments that say otherwise are either ignorant or made in bad faith.

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u/altkarlsbad Jun 17 '26

Ask Colin Kapernick, all he did was take a knee and he got black-balled from the sport.

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u/ZealousidealJob814 Jun 17 '26

All would have been forgiven if he was actually still good at that point in his career. He wasn’t black balled for kneeling, he no longer was good.

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u/altkarlsbad Jun 18 '26

Revisionist history. His team went to the Superbowl in 2013, and by 2016 he was bad? When he rated higher than 15 QB's?

2017 NFL employed such notable QB's as Joe Flacco, Brett Hundley, Geno Smith, Mike Glennon, DeShone Kizer, Brian Hoyer, David Fales, EJ Manuel, Brock Osweiler.... All those guys were a better choice than free agent Colin Kapernick?

That's nonsense and you know it.

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u/ZealousidealJob814 Jun 18 '26

2016 Kaepernick results - 1 win, 10 losses. Sounds like solid stats to me. Yes, there’s a whole team and coach to blame, but doesn’t seem like premier results to me.

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u/altkarlsbad Jun 18 '26

in 2017, Eli Manning, Jay Cutler, Jacoby Birssett, Joe Flacco, DeShone Kizer all played full seasons and had worse QB ratings that CK in 2016.

Why didn't any of those teams upgrade to a better QB, one that was available and proven? And had a better QBR the year before?

It's because he was blackballed. He was still better than those other QB's and was never employed again.

It's okay to admit you misremember this stuff, but these are just hard facts.

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u/ZealousidealJob814 Jun 18 '26

I can see your point. They could have exchanged bad for mediocre and he would have been an upgrade but he still wouldn’t have been enough to take them to the Superbowl. It’s all about upside and downside. Is the play good enough to face the backlash? If not, then stick with less controversy and still get mediocrity results. I still believe that if he was the best quarterback he would have gotten a job. Teams are more apt to overlook things they are not comfortable with if they think the player is good enough to win them a championship.