Seemingly everyone has given their two cents on why Colin Kaepernick doesn’t have a job as an NFL quarterback. And while his former coach, Chip Kelly, tried to dispell most of those theories, an NFL legend decided to put on his analyst hat and explain why he believes Kaepernick still is unemployed.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana was in New York on Tuesday doing promotional work for FanDuel, and he believes the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback’s lackluster play on the field is the reason he has yet to find a team. Montana even went so far as to compare Kaepernick to former quarterback turned baseball prospect, Tim Tebow.
“That style of quarterback, everybody thought was going to take over the NFL,” Montana told USA TODAY’s For The Win. “You look at guys who had success in college, that only had success one year. Usually those guys, the next year, it’s very difficult on them.
“The league has figured out how to defend it,” Montana said. “If I’m playing defense, I want the quarterback to run so I can hit him. In the pocket, you can’t really hit him. So you look at Tim Tebow — he’s a great guy, does a lot of great things. But when you complete 40-something percent of your passes, even in the low 50s, you’re not going to make it.”
Kaepernick also chose not to stand for the national anthem during the 2016 season, which some people believe caused him to be a distraction to his team and has led to him being blackballed by the NFL. While Kelly said his former signal-caller wasn’t a distraction at all, Montana isn’t buying it.
“It’s not that his cause wasn’t great,” Montana said. “It’s just what you do, when you do it. It’s a personal thing. He had the right to do it, if it affects what he’s doing and what that organization does … but then he wasn’t playing well.”
Whether Kaepernick was a distraction or not, it’s still hard to believe there are 30 quarterbacks in the league who are more deserving of a job than he is.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
