A Tale of Three Athletes
Privileges, Temptations, and Immunities in Contemporary American Celebrity Culture
Deshaun Watson.
Yesterday, citing a “premeditated pattern of predatory behavior toward multiple women,” a National Football League mediator announced a six-game suspension for All-Pro franchise quarterback, Deshaun Watson.
In a hard-hitting investigation and analysis published last Wednesday, July 27, 2022, the New York Times presented a harrowing narrative of abuse and misconduct from the perspective of Watson’s unsuspecting targets. Twenty-four civil complaints against Watson for lewd and unwanted sexual advances and assault. Thirty distinct cash settlements with female accusers (add three to that tally with settlements over the weekend). Now just one civil case still in limbo and a criminal case seemingly averted. The Houston Texans implicated as enablers. And, implicitly, a special dispensation of shame for the Cleveland Browns and their single-minded pursuit of victory at any price.
I have been criticizing journalism lately for merely confirming what readers want to believe. None of this conforms with what I want to believe. Like you, I prefer the image of Deshaun Watson as the hardworking overachiever, the underdog college quarterback who turned back the Crimson Tide, the NFL superstar team leader and virtuoso at the toughest position to master in professional sports, and the Christian athlete who donated his first game check ($27K) to working folks ravaged by Hurricane Harvey.
Again, read the story and decide for yourself, but the Times establishes a damning pattern of association and fiendishly boorish and gross behavior that left more than two dozen women emotionally battered in his wake. For the record, Watson consistently and vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
In a legal world in which we are conditioned to believe a grand jury will “indict a ham sandwich” at the behest of a motivated prosecutor, the disposition a local jurisdiction to NOT indict Watson highlights an American legal system in which the value of a premium lawyer, expert in and out of the courtroom, cannot be overstated.
Watson’s five year $230 million “fully guaranteed” salary with the Browns, and the comparatively mild proposed disciplinary action at the hands of the NFL, offers a case study in the temptations of the privileged and their limited immunity to equal justice.
Celebrities are not above the law, but the banality of evil so often appears synonymous with interactions between the powerful and the vulnerable.
The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
Colin Kaepernick.
Wikipedia identifies Kaepernick as “an American civil rights activist and NFL quarterback who is a free agent.” Much more famous today for his 2016 pregame demonstrations in which he protested the national anthem than for his on-field accomplishments, we often misremember Kaepernick’s football story. Even the carefully calibrated characterization of Kaepernick as a [current] “player,” although he has not been on an active team roster for five full seasons, offers a window into his complicated cultural identity.
In reality, for a brief moment, Kaepernick truly was the most exciting player in professional football (for purely football reasons). Quietly drafted from a non-power college program, the second-year backup captivated the football universe when he took the helm of the San Francisco 49ers during the final four games of the 2012 regular season. Relieving injured starting quarterback Alex Smith, Kaepernick immediately sparked the 49ers. Even after the supremely competent Smith quickly returned to full health, the Niners stayed with the exciting new catalyst. Suddenly the hottest team in football with Kaepernick under center, the 49ers powered through the playoffs and lost a heartbreaker to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII.
The next season, head coach Jim Harbaugh resolutely named Kaepernick the starter and traded away Smith. The dynamic dual-threat sensation led the 49ers to a blistering 12-4 regular season, finishing second in the NFC. Unfortunately, the best record in the Conference belonged to their division rival, the Seattle Seahawks. Forced to settle for a wild card berth, the 49ers took to the road where they won two away games to claw their way back to a showdown with the Seahawks in their deafening home stadium in Seattle. In an NFC championship battle for the ages, the Seahawk defense (the Legion of Boom) turned back the Kaepernick-led Niners on the final drive of the game with only seconds remaining on the clock. The Seahawks went on to pummel the AFC champion Denver Broncos (43-8) to win Super Bowl XLVIII.
Two tantalizingly close calls in 2012 and 2013—but no cigar. Sure, the offense had blown a lead in the fourth quarter of the championship loss the previous season, and the quarterback fumbled and threw two interceptions down the stretch. But nobody in the 49er front office saw cause to fret. Times were good and bound to get better. Quirky but charismatic genius Harbaugh had the storied franchise back to its winning ways with his exceptional quarterback redefining the game and, presumably, would only improve with experience. In the offseason, the club signed Kaepernick to a 126 million dollar multi-year deal with $13 million guaranteed.
Why did Harbaugh give the reins to Kaepernick in the first place? Every innovative offensive mind understands the near impossibility of containing a truly talented dual-threat quarterback. From the single wing to the wishbone, an extra ball carrier in the backfield scrambles defenses. Traditionally, NFL teams seek a pocket passer, cool under pressure, expert at reading defenses, highly skilled at throwing the ball downfield for big plays in clutch situations, and generally making a way when there is no way. This rare breed is the Franchise Quarterback. They win Super Bowls. They are incredibly few and far between and almost impossible to forecast until they bloom. If you find one, you’ve won the lottery of NFL life.
Most winning teams settle for a game manager, a quarterback competent at running a mixed offense, throwing when necessary but much more effective when the offense controls the line of scrimmage with a productive running game. These talented and heady athletes never dominate the opposition on the strength of their unmatched skills, but they don’t beat themselves either. If everything goes right, a team can win a Super Bowl with this level of performance—but it is not the foundation on which dynasties are built.
Harbaugh identified Alex Smith as a game manager. In Colin Kaepernick he sniffed something truly extraordinary. He followed his instincts and rolled the dice. Not a typical pro-set pass-first prospect, the strong-armed Kaepernick was big and fast and athletic. He could break the game open with his downfield passing or his running ability–and, hopefully, could withstand the punishment an NFL defense always exacts on an unprotected quarterback. Harbaugh was not the first NFL coach to chase this dream of a running and throwing playmaker, but he believed the game was changing and Kaepernick possessed a set of skills that set him apart from past experiments. He was anxious to design an offense around his discovery. And, for a while, Harbaugh caught lightning in a bottle. For a season, Kaepernick posed the most feared offensive threat in the league and looked to some observers virtually unstoppable.
But, to coin a phrase, the other guys watch film too—and they get paid a lot of money to find solutions to the latest new wrinkle. The 2015 season found the breaks beating the boys at Levi’s Stadium as often as not. The offense sputtered and the superhuman quarterback proved fallible. After an 8-8 season, the team parted ways with the innovative head coach by mutual agreement. The quarterback, stripped of his supportive coaching staff and his confidence, could only wonder what 2015 might bring. The next season (and the next) brought misery. Revolving door head coaches, injuries, demotion, and humiliations. After a horrific 2015 that ended with a shoulder injury, upon returning from rehab in 2016, and after committing to a vegan diet with the new love in his life, Nessa [Diab], Kaepernick reported to camp underweight and reduced in muscle mass.
Sidelined and frustrated, asking for a trade but facing a lack of interest around the league, diminished and depressed, on a run of hard luck and moving in the wrong direction, disconnected with his third NFL head coach in three years, in the midst of a tragic national news cycle, the former starter sat out the national anthem the first two preseason games. Not in uniform, no one noticed. Sitting on a trainer’s table on the sidelines in uniform for the third game, reporters asked him about his anomalous behavior during the postgame presser.
Kaepernick told reporter Steve Wyche:
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color."
Between preseason week three and week four, after a mini-firestorm, Nate Boyer, former Green Beret, veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, and super short-stint veteran of the NFL, met with Kaepernick and advised him to kneel rather than sit. “You kneel to propose to your wife, and you take a knee to pray. And soldiers often take a knee in front of a fallen brother's grave to pay respects.” Perhaps they also discussed the time-honored football symbol of taking a knee to rest and listen or show respect for an opposing player injured during a game. Perhaps they did not need to. In any event, Boyer offered sound and consequential advice. From then on the protest consisted of kneeling during the national anthem.
Soon the fire spread. And all manner of Hell broke loose. A year later, but often remembered in retrospect as a contemporaneous shot at Kaepernick, President Donald J. Trump said:
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!”
Before walking back her statement under intense pressure, the late great RBG, in real time, in response to the Kaepernick protest, characterized his actions as “dumb and disrespectful”—not illegal, of course, but she compared the protest to flag burning, constitutional and perfectly lawful—but not thoughtful or patriotic. Even with kind words of support from President Obama during the fall of 2016, national opinion showed Americans divided over the issue with a slight majority telling pollsters kneeling during the national anthem was inappropriate (with a much larger majority disapproval rating among Republicans and independents). Perhaps skewing more conservative and patriotic than your average American, NFL fans in general seemed befuddled and annoyed with the protests.
Kaepernick, demoted once again in favor of Blaine Gabbert, won his starting job back by default ahead of game six. Leading his dismal team to a 1-10 record as a starter, the lowly Niners finished 2-14 for the 2016 season locked in the cellar of the NFC and in search of another head coach. The following spring, 49ers management allowed Kaepernick to opt out of his contract after new hire, Mike Shanahan, made clear he was not interested in Kaepernick as the field general in his new offensive scheme.
During the offseason Kaepernick remained unsigned as a free agent, leading to widespread speculation among the sports commentariat that the NFL was blackballing him for political and commercial reasons. Officially, NFL teams (most of whom had not been anxious to trade for him before the protests) voiced concerns that he would not be happy as a backup.
Perhaps the closest Kaepernick came to getting back on the field at any point since 2016, occurred when the Baltimore Ravens considered signing him as a backup to Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco. Intriguing, in retrospect, as the Ravens coach John Harbaugh (Jim’s brother) evidently pushed for a deal and also because Harbaugh later sidelined Flacco for then longshot but current All Pro and 2019 league MVP, Lamar Jackson, another super athletic dual-threat quarterback in the mold of Kaepernick. But, according to former Raven Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, the team reversed their tentative plans to sign him after a Tweet from Nessa (Kaepernick's girlfriend) demeaned Lewis and Ravens management. Kaepernick was out—and out for good. He has not played a down of football since 2016.
How had it all gone so wrong? The Cinderella story of the young man from nowhere, whose white mother and anonymous Black father had given him up for adoption, loved and nurtured by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, born in Wisconsin, raised in California, a committed Christian with Bible verse tattoos decorating his chiseled arms, a 4.0 student and three sport letterman in high school and college, on the verge of total professional triumph, and now out—out for good.
The data journalism website, FiveThirtyEight declared, “it’s obvious Kaepernick is being frozen out for his political opinions.” Ta-Nehisi Coates, writing in the pages of the New York Times, also saw the situation clearly: the NFL had canceled Kaepernick, deprived him of “making a living at a skill he has been honing since childhood,” for refusing to stand for the anthem. And, for the most part, mainstream media, both sports and political, agreed wholeheartedly and vociferously. More than a mere article of faith, the Colin Kaepernick narrative took on the status of legend.
Did the NFL collude to cancel Colin Kaepernick? Surely, the owners and general managers of the 32 teams, a very small social circle, viewed the Kaepernick saga as bad for business and a lose-lose public relations nightmare. But, importantly, Kaepernick’s trajectory on the field played a crucial role. His disposition might have been radically different if the drama transpired in 2013 or even 2014—back when the phenom drove defensive coordinators to madness. But, by 2018, with the specter of injuries still looming, plagued by uneven performances, questions about leadership and his commitment to team over individual pursuits, his current talent value did not outweigh his potential for distraction. Why take a chance on this guy if he’s trouble.
What marks the difference between Deshaun Watson and Colin Kaepernick? Surely no one believes owners despise protesters but harbor a soft spot for sexual predators. Closer to the truth: owners are mostly neutral concerning off-field behavior that does not embarrass the League or hurt the team. Clubs value on-field production, and they are willing to overlook egregious character flaws in a player who helps the team win—again, as long as the peripheral conduct does not detract from team cohesion. Balancing downsides and distractions against performance, football people are looking for personnel who offer a cumulative edge against the other 31 competitors. In regard to Kaepernick, for the NFL franchises willing to do the math, in the end, the sometimes very serious computations always came up against signing him.
An Aside regarding Deshaun Watson. As of this writing, the NFL disciplinary officer recommended a six-game suspension—a mild slap on the wrist that punishes almost no one. In an odd system of checks and balances that only a union negotiation could devise, either party may contest this ruling. Watson and company are ecstatic and have no reason to complain. The NFL, on the other hand, with an ear to the ground for public opinion—mostly outside of the universe of NFL fans, might overrule the independent finding and impose a stronger sanction on Watson and the Browns (Thursday deadline). If they do, the League will be acting out of self preservation, balancing the perception of integrity and justice and popular pushback versus talent, excitement, and franchise autonomy.
As for Kaepernick, happily, he finds himself in the midst of a prosperous second act in life. Nike signed the civil rights activist and free agent [non playing] football player to a lucrative contract in 2018.
"Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."
Kaepernick regularly comments on social justice issues, promotes a school curriculum he and Nessa developed, continues to win awards for his courage, and runs a charitable organization promoting the abolition of policing and prisons. He remains an icon of conscience to many, and his brand continues to sell sneakers. Falling into the right niche of the culture war, Kaepernick found a place as a sports-adjacent celebrity that transcended his value as an athlete.
Brittney Griner.
The 31 year-old American WNBA superstar, after a decade of heroic feats on basketball courts all over the world, now rises to international renown in one of the worst ways imaginable, wrongfully imprisoned in Russia since February on minor drug charges.
Before Griner excelled in the WNBA (the premier women’s professional basketball league in the United States), we knew her as a standout student-athlete at Baylor University. With the 6 foot 9 inch agile big woman in the middle leading the way, the team formerly known as the Lady Bears won a national championship in 2012. Over the course of her college career, she scored 2000 points, blocked 500 shots, was named All-American three times, Associated Press College Player of the Year, and Final Four MVP.
As a pro, she led the Phoenix Mercury to a WNBA championship in 2014 and Team USA to gold in 2016. She stumbled into tragedy in Russia because she plays in the Russian Premier League during the WNBA offseason, hustling to earn extra money. Unlike the NBA, where teams play an 82 game regular season schedule, the women play 32 in regulation plus playoffs, in arenas populated way below capacity, and sporadically on television but without big TV contracts. WNBA players make less money than their male counterparts—significantly less.
Average salaries for NBA players run approximately $7 million per year (with approximately $1 million league minimums for the lowest paid athletes), and superstars earn in excess of $40 million per year. The average salary for the WNBA is a bit over $100 thousand per season, with a league minimum well below that 100K figure, with the best players toping out around $500 thousand. Again, the yawning earnings gap corresponds to huge disparities in attendance, ticket prices, TV viewership, and general interest in merchandise. While NBA annual revenues come in around $8 Billion per year, the WNBA brings in $60 million in gross receipts. The women’s league, subsidized by the NBA, reportedly loses an average of $10 million per year.
For the blue collar players of the WNBA, the experience harkens back to an era long past in men’s professional sports when even star athletes worked during the offseason selling insurance or promoting their own businesses. Griner, a league superstar, does much better than most of her counterparts. She broke barriers a few years ago as the first openly gay athlete to secure a Nike endorsement. The contract for the towering center who wears a colossal men’s size 17 shoe was reportedly worth $1 million.
Griner, born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of a Marine Corps veteran and former local sheriff, came out as a lesbian officially in 2013. She married her teammate Glory Johnson in 2015. They were both arrested for domestic violence against one another in 2016 (Brittney plead guilty to disorderly conduct), and the couple divorced in 2016. Brittney married Cherelle Watson in 2019. In 2020, she asked the WNBA to discontinue the playing of the national anthem before games in support of social justice and, specifically, in sympathy for Breonna Taylor and Black Lives Matter.
As she sat in a jail cell in Russia this spring, Lebron James publicly wondered whether she might abandon her country altogether—seeing how the United States seemed to place so little value on her freedom, exerting scant effort to arrange her return. After an instant dustup that lacked context, James quickly clarified his comments, saying he had nothing bad to say about “our beautiful country.” He was only emoting his frustration with the dire situation. Perhaps Lebron’s rather anodyne comments were conflated with Phoenix Mercury head coach, Vanessa Nygaard, who invoked the name of the NBA superstar when she vented her aggravation to the media concerning Griner:
“If it was Lebron, he’d be home. Right? It’s a statement about the value of women. It’s a statement about the value of a black person. It’s a statement about the value of a gay person. All of those things. We know it, and so that’s what hurts a little more.”
Of course, in reality, all signs indicate Brittney ranks as a high priority for the Biden administration. After Brittney’s wife, Cherelle, went public with her exasperation with President Biden, the President and Vice President Harris reached out to Mrs. Griner. In a publicized phone call, the Commander in Chief assured Cherelle his administration was doggedly pursuing every avenue to bring Brittney home. And the White House confirmed that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken were also in communication with Cherelle.
After the news of the phone call, the family of Paul Whelan, an American in similar straits in a Russian prison since 2018, revealed that they had never heard directly from a president during their almost four years of grief and uncertainty—nor had one promised to write a personal letter to captive Whelan to raise his spirits. The Whelan family revealed that they were not accustomed to hearing from the White House or any other high officials during his detention, but I can only imagine they are thankful to Griner for the sudden and increased attention their case is now receiving.
On July 27, 2022, the State Department released news that they had offered a deal to the Russian government proposing freedom for Griner and Whelan in exchange for a Russian international criminal convicted of arms dealing. As of this post, the Russians had not responded positively to the overture. We hope and pray for the safe return of Griner and Whelan.
A Tale of Three Athletes. Our athletic heroes face unique trials and tribulations in Celebrity Culture. They also benefit from privileges and immunities beyond the normal benefits constitutionally conferred on rank-and-file American citizens.
In the words of “Quiz Kid Donnie Smith” in the classic film Magnolia:
“Have you ever been struck by lightning? It hurts”
To paraphrase Dickens, we live in an age of wonders and contradictions. Say a prayer for our celebrated champions, the fans who adore them, and the people whom they randomly encounter in their complicated lives.