Michael Fletcher:

Well, Roger Goodell has been saying that for the last two years. That's been kind of his stock response. And the league doesn't go further in talking about why Kaepernick is not on a team.

But "The Undefeated," we did a poll recently that sort of looked at this racial divide. I mean, black fans back Kaepernick. White fans don't back Kaepernick. And you sort of have that sort of right down the line.

And you talk about people turning away from the game. More white fans are actually turning away from the game because of the whole Kaepernick protest movement, if you will, than black fans, even though both sides are kind of put off.

So you can understand how team owners are kind of in a bind, in a sense. I mean, they're probably making a business decision, saying that, we don't want to alienate fans by hiring this guy.

And who knows? I mean, as far as Kap ever playing again, I personally doubt it. I don't see a team signing him at this point. I think it will be too much of a kerfuffle for them. He could well win his grievance, and win tens of millions of dollars, but I don't imagine him playing.

And he's had a good — he had a short career, but a good one, made over 40 million bucks. And now he's kind of become almost a global figure, kind of an iconic figure, if you will, of resistance and protest.