Stop comparing Jaxson Dart’s New York Trump rally speech to Colin Kaepernick’s activism

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart committed the grave sin of supporting President Donald Trump by simply introducing him at his rally in the Empire State on Friday. 

Many liberal sports fans and media members lost their minds over it, and even Dart’s teammate and fellow first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Abdul Carter, tried to shame him, saying, “Thought this s—t was AI, what we doing man?”

GIANTS STAR ABDUL CARTER TAKES ISSUE WITH TEAMMATE JAXSON DART INTRODUCING TRUMP AT NEW YORK RALLY

One of the dumbest responses to Dart’s appearance at the rally was comparing the star quarterback to disgraced former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick is, of course, famous for kneeling during the national anthem while playing for the San Francisco 49ers after he lost his starting job to Blaine Gabbert because of injury and poor performance. He has since become one of, if not the biggest, activist athletes of our lifetime.

One player made a scene on the field, vilified police, downplayed crime, wore a Fidel Castro T-shirt in the locker room, disrespected law enforcement and the military, and wore socks depicting cops as pigs during practice. The other introduced a sitting president at a rally in the state where he plays football. These two men are not even in the same stratosphere. Comparing them is not even like comparing apples to oranges. It’s like comparing apples to manure.

An X user stated, “I’m old enough to remember Colin Kaepernick being run out of the NFL by a bunch of colluding owners for calling out police brutality.”

First off, that is verifiably untrue. Second, let’s take a trip down memory lane and remind people why Kaepernick was benched, how he squandered every opportunity he had to play after his on-field activism and what inspired him to kneel in the first place:

Kaepernick wasn’t blackballed by the NFL. He tanked his own career. He was benched after an abysmal 2-6 start in which he barely completed half of his passes. It was only after becoming a backup that he first decided to kneel during the national anthem. His play had regressed significantly as both a passer and a running threat. Then, after injuries, a demotion, and increasingly divisive activism, he opted out of his contract with San Francisco in 2017. In the process, he made himself unappealing to other teams by becoming a constant political distraction.

COLIN KAEPERNICK SUGGESTS TRUMP ‘TARGETED’ AND ‘MINIMIZED’ HIM FOR NATIONAL ANTHEM PROTESTS

In 2017, the Baltimore Ravens, with help from Ray Lewis, were reportedly prepared to take a chance on Kaepernick and sign him. But that changed after Kaepernick’s then-girlfriend, TV and radio host Nessa Diab, posted a tweet that Lewis himself described as “racist.” The post compared Lewis and Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to characters from the movie “Django Unchained.”

In November 2019, the NFL arranged a highly unusual league-wide workout for Kaepernick in Atlanta. All 32 teams were invited. But hours before it began, Kaepernick moved the workout from the NFL’s chosen facility to a nearby high school. As former NBC NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya said, “He doesn’t really want to play football.” He was more interested in cashing massive checks as a political activist than returning to the league.

As for why he originally kneeled, Kaepernick was inspired by a knife-wielding criminal, Mario Woods, who stabbed someone in San Francisco and then was shot by police because he refused to comply with police, while in possession of a deadly weapon.

FROM KNEELING TO SPANISH ANTHEMS: HOW THE NFL LOST MIDDLE AMERICA AT HALFTIME

Do you really want to compare Jaxson Dart speaking at a rally to this guy? Seriously? The former quarterback turned race-baiter, who shamed his White parents who adopted him. The man who claimed that NFL Combine is like the slave trade. Come on now. Stop this nonsense. 

Another post in response to Dart’s appearance stated, “Kaep kneeled for police brutality against black people and was blackballed because they wanted him to just ‘focus on sports.’ But Dart is allowed to be ‘political.'”

Again, Kaepernick was not blackballed. The league did not conspire against him. He is no hero and he is no victim.

THE CULTURE OF SPORTS VS THE CULTURE OF THE ELITE LEFT

Athletes are allowed to support and even campaign for their preferred political candidates. It’s a free country. But speaking at a rally in your free time is entirely different from becoming a divisive distraction on the field and in the locker room.

This is just another clear indication of the intolerance and hypocritical nature of the left. They can’t accept Dart speaking at a Trump rally, but they will either stay silent or applaud the fact that LeBron James spoke at a Hillary Clinton rally and Stephen Curry spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2023 in support of Kamala Harris. They applaud Steve Kerr and Doc Rivers spewing lies about ICE kidnapping kids and murdering American citizens. The list is endless and nauseating.

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Yes, keep politics out of sports. Sports are what should bring us together, regardless of political affiliation, and it should be a unifying outlet away from the heavy political climate we are immersed in on a daily basis. Speaking at a rally on your own free time as an athlete is fine by me. Will it garner backlash from the other side? Undoubtedly. Is it better than doing it in uniform? I believe so. 

Trying to shame and even crucify Dart for being honored and privileged to introduce the sitting President of the United States is your First Amendment right. Go for it. But it is ludicrous to compare Dart to Kaepernick.