Colin Kaepernick is only famous today because of America, the NFL, and probably his parents. These are the factors that made his professional football career possible. Remove any one from the equation, and it is safe to say that none of us would even know Kaepernick’s name.Consequently, it is more than a little ironic (and hypocritical) that the former NFL quarterback devoted his whole career to tearing down America and the NFL. It started with his National Anthem protests. The ultra-rich, contracted sports star saw fit to abash the flag for which millions of heroes have bled and died. Understandably, this infuriated many Americans. His protests made him the most disliked NFL player. But of course, Kaepernick took this as all the more proof that even modern America has a prevalent racism problem.Then he started lambasting the NFL as a whole, comparing it to the slave trade, a ridiculously offensive comparison. All the while, his net worth continued to climb. For example, Netflix reportedly paid him $10 million for the special in which he compared professional football to slavery.But his grifting was doomed to lose steam from the start. SEE ALSO: The ‘Me Decade’ has come home to roost What Kaepernick should have realized was that ripping on what made him relevant, to begin with, could only be profitable for so long. In many ways, his story parallels Prince Harry’s in this regard. As writer Andrew Wallenstein of “Variety” pointed out, Harry has no second act; he cannot “destroy” the monarchy perpetually.Similarly, Kaepernick’s “anti-America,” “anti-NFL” business model days are limited. He is actively subverting the very grounds he stands on – his only claim to fame. What happens when he succeeds?At this point, we all already know Kaepernick hates the things that made him rich and important. What more does he have to say? How much longer can he sell kid’s books, comics, and TV specials that all tout the same message?He’s running out of options.This is why the spoiled brat has now stooped to new lows, turning his back on his parents. Having fallen out of the spotlight for too long, he needed a new stunt; something to resuscitate his growingly useless career. For now, accusing his white adoptive parents of “problematic” behavior and racism seems to have done the trick. SEE ALSO: Prince Harry’s memoir proves victimhood sells Evidently, undermining the foundations is Kaepernick’s go-to. It’s the only thing sustaining his dying relevancy. Having tried his hand at undermining the nation that paid him millions of dollars to fulfill his dreams and the system that contracted him for $114 million, he has no choice but to sell out the people that raised him and probably enabled him to pursue his sports ambitions.Imagine the horrors of parenting a child only to watch him publicly accuse you of racism. Especially in this day and age, a more damaging insult is hardly imaginable. But it is the logical conclusion for someone who branded himself solely on smearing the institutions and people that made him great in the first place.Not even his parents were off the hook.And now what?In his manic drive to trumpet systemic “disempowerment,” Kaepernick left no stone unturned, and now has nothing to offer. His career may be finally ending.Or – because America idolizes the victim – he may get away with reinventing his “oppression” yet again.Who’s next on his list of targets? His girlfriend? Fellow teammates? There’s no predicting how far the treacherous squawker might go.Either way, his message is hackneyed and stale, and its lasting significance is minimal. And having left his (negative) mark on everything and everyone that gave him a shot in life, Kaepernick should not be surprised if he ends up being not all that important.Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.
