Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman thinks he knows why everyone is down on anti-American protester Colin Kaepernick. It isn’t because he called cops pigs. It isn’t because he said the U.S.A. was never great. No, according to Sherman, Kaepernick finds himself on the outs because he failed to know his place.

Sherman threw out his racially tinged opinion during a recent interview with Jarrett Bell of USA Today.

In the interview, Bell notes that Kaepernick was not the only NFL player to refuse to stand for the playing of the national anthem during the 2016 season. Bell also notes, that the handful of other NFL players who knelt during the anthem last year are still playing and faced no repercussions from their protest.

Bell asked Sherman why he thinks Kaepernick remains the only one who has suffered consequences from his protest.

“What is it about?” Sherman replied. “It’s not about football or color. It’s about, ‘Boy, stay in your place.'”

This answer, however, doesn’t explain why other black players who protested faced virtually no consequences for their actions. If Kaepernick is being persecuted by the league for not knowing his place. Then why not his fellow protestors? Who also, presumably, did not know their place?

Sherman also complained that not enough players are sticking up for Kaepernick.

“Not a lot of guys are willing to step out there,” Sherman added. “So the guys not speaking up for him are doing him a disservice. There should be a lot more guys saying something. Most guys are like, ‘I don’t want my job to end up the same way.'”

Though, this doesn’t square with reality either. Since several NFL players have voiced support for Kaepernick over the last year, and none have faced any disciplinary action from the league for it.

There is a reason that Kaepernick has been the only one to suffer for the protests. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, a big Kaepernick supporter, unwittingly stumbled onto that reason when he said Kaepernick has suffered because he “became the name and face of the movement.”

But Kaepernick went further than merely engaging in silent, peaceful protest.. The former 49er quarterback also said that America was never great, and called the police pigs.

Kaepernick’s inability to restrain his criticisms of America, is why his career is suffering. It is why fans don’t want him brought to their city and why NFL owners and coaches are reticent to hire him.

Unlike the assumptions by Richard Sherman, Mike Florio, and other Kaepernick defenders in the sports world. Kaepernick’s trouble finding a new team has nothing to do with race.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.