Apparently, it doesn’t matter to the “love it or leave it” crowd that many military members have defended Kaepernick, saying things like “The reason we fought overseas was to protect his or anyone else’s right to protest.”

Kaepernick is actually an opportunity for the NFL. All it takes is one team to say publicly: We may disagree with his tactics, but he’s committed no crime and we will judge him on talent alone. The NFL — like most sports franchises — loves to prove its collective patriotism with salutes to the military — paid for, at times in the past, by the military. What’s more patriotic than freedom of speech?

Not signing Kaepernick because there might be backlash is the coward’s way out. The bravest person in this room is the man the cowards are running from.