Fresh off the celebration of Drew Brees' new all-time passing record, the New Orleans Saints have a non-sports related controversy to mull over.

On Monday night, as fans were arriving at the Superdome for the game between the Saints and Washington, New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara decided he wanted to make a statement by donning a "Make Africa Home Again" red hat with a Colin Kaepernick 49ers jersey.

It is unknown if Alvin Kamara has ever previously lived in Africa. The general consensus among most sources is that he's never been there, although his mother is Liberian. Perhaps she's given him a romanticized perspective of what life is like in the foriegn nation?

Alvin Kamara signed a 4-year contract worth $3,857,772 with the Saints on June 2, 2017. The average salary in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, is about $35,538 annually. In case you're wondering, there is no professional American football league in Liberia. However, there is an amateur league in Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa, but the players in those countries don't earn 7-figure salaries like they do in the US. While none of those nations are home to institutions that pay high salaries to American football players, they do collectively have plenty of authoritarian political leaders and third world style poverty. Meanwhile, Liberia is currently home to one of the worst Ebola outbreaks the world has ever known.

Alvin Kamara is no stranger to controversy. Before joining the NFL he attended the University of Alabama where Nick Saban banned him from practicing with the team and suspended him from playing in their bowl game because of "behavioral issues".

Meanwhile, Alvin Kamara seems to be sending some mixed messages. First, the Kaepernick Jersey is supposed to be all about Black Lives Matter and the claimed disproportionate police violence against blacks. But actually it’s all about getting Kap some attention because his career is somewhere in the U-bend of a Bay Area toilet.

Second, Make Africa Home Again? That statement is kind of racist and problematic. Does he even know the how and why of Liberia? Liberia was a settlement of The American Colonialization Society who believed blacks would face a better chance at freedom and prosperity in Africa than they would in the US.

Between 1822 and The American Civil War over 15000 free born blacks and former slaves settled in what became known as Monrovia, the nation’s capital. Monrovia was named in honor of US President James Monroe who thought sending blacks back to Africa was a great idea.

No wonder Nick Saban wouldn’t let him practice with the team. This guy is an idiot.



