Michael Vick knows a thing or two about the court of public opinion.
Vick, of course, spent 21 months in federal prison thanks to his involvement in a dogfighting scandal and has spent much of the time since trying to rebuild his public image.
Colin Kaepernick’s situation is much, much different: The free agent NFL quarterback angered some by kneeling during national anthems while trying to raise awareness of social inequality in America. But that didn’t stop FOX Sports 1’s Jason Whitlock from bringing Vick on his show to ask the ex-NFL QB how Kaepernick should get back in fans’ good graces and back on an NFL team.
Vick’s advice was… interesting.
That’s right: Vick thinks Kaepernick needs a haircut.
“I’m not up here to try to be politically correct,” Vick explained. “But even if he puts cornrows in — I don’t think he should represent himself in that way in terms of the hairstyle. Just go clean-cut.
“Why not? You’re already dealing with a lot of controversy surrounding this issue. What he needs to do is just try to be presentable.”
We (kind of) get where Vick is coming from, as he wore cornrows prior to his arrest before adopting a clean-cut look upon his return to the league. But Kaepernick has by no means committed a crime. In fact, he’s just trying to get an important message across.
Even if an NFL team would be more likely to sign Kaepernick if he sheared off his afro — and that’s a big “if” — we doubt the outspoken QB would opt for a run-of-the-mill ‘do.
UPDATE (Tuesday, 12:50 p.m. ET): Michael Vick faced a lot of backlash on social media for his comments. He since has issued the following clarification.
Thumbnail photo via Mike DiNovo/USA TODAY Sports Images
