OT - Ravens sign David Olson over Colin Kaepernick

Submitted by MGoGrendel on

The Ravens have signed quarterback David Olson to participate in training camp with Joe Flacco nursing a back injury.  Olson joins Ryan Mallett and Dustin Vaugh at Ravens camp.

David Olson is a former Champions Indoor Football league quarterback.  He played for the Wichita Force and led the team to a league title, winning MVP of Champions Bowl II.  He was also the QB at Stanford under the tutelage Jim Harbaugh

Colin also was a famously coached by Jim Harbaugh.

Speculation yesterday was that John Harbaugh would pick up Colin – if he agreed to the contract and conditions for the QB competition.  Sounds like the contract offer -- and level of participation -- was more in line with Olson’s needs.

Boring day; the comments should be interesting.

 

 

*** Edit - I saw the headline this morning and didn't see the John Harbaugh thread.  Was looking for Kap in the OP titles.

bacon1431

July 29th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^

If you don't think or know he's done anything beyond the kneeling, then you're not informed on him and shouldn't be criticizing him so harshly. It's not hard to find plenty of things he's done aside from the anthem protest. With one action, he became a well known advocate for the cause and he's helped even more players and others feel comfortable speaking out. His kneel was made for two reasons: personal moral compass and to bring attention to the cause.

bronxblue

July 28th, 2017 at 6:29 PM ^

I won't get into the obvious political element to this discussion, but 538 did an analysis some time ago and Kaepernick absolutely is still a serviceable player in the league, better than lots of guys who are backups or in competition for starting spots. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/yes-its-strange-that-colin-kaepern… And I hate the distraction argument in a league where serial domestic violence perpetrators, drug addicts, vocal proponents of certain political opinions, and other equally odious distractions don't get half this scrutiny and are allowed to play. Again, Kaepernick holds an unpopular opinion and has been vocally about it, and he is being punished for it. Sure, if he was an all pro people would probably ignore it. But don't kid yourself that this is because he can't perorm on the field.

ijohnb

July 28th, 2017 at 7:58 PM ^

don't think it is that simple, nor do I think the "position" he took was all that unpopular, whatever that position was. He didn't get that far beyond "I am kneeling for the national anthem cuz." He had an unlimited platform with which to expand on his position and try to affect actual change and move the conversation further and did nothing. He came across as more angry about being surpassed at his position than he did really interested in the issue he was purportedly addressing. And the socks he chose to put on his feet were ridiculous. Something a 12 year old would do. The problem was not the position that he took (the whole country was outraged by those incidents and videos), the problem was how petulant he acted while taking it.

In reply to by ijohnb

bacon1431

July 29th, 2017 at 11:40 AM ^

He's done plenty to help actual change. He's donated plenty, worked with youth in underprivileged areas and continues speaking out. Nothing wrong with his protest. Nothing petulant about it. Only petulance is people getting up in arms because someone is not acting how they think he should over a ritual that is meaningless to some.

TheBorg

July 29th, 2017 at 3:50 AM ^

while most believe their analytics are among the best, they completely missed the mark on thier prediction for the 2016 Presidential election: they predicted Hillary had a 71.6% chance of winning - on election eve - and that Donald had a meager 28.6% chance.  And we know the actual results were.  Nonetheless, other analyses reveal Kaepernick to be subpar, and others such at 538 that state he is one of the best available quarterbacks for 2017.  Let's hope he finds a home here in the NFL and not in the CFL.

bronxblue

July 28th, 2017 at 6:23 PM ^

If I'm a Ravens fan, I want the best player possible. I get Kaep not being an option if he wants to start or be a more permanent part of a rotation. But the NFL isn't a charity and Olson was a career backup in college. Plus, he's only 4 years younger than Kaep, so it's not like he's part of a massive youth movement.

username03

July 28th, 2017 at 3:44 PM ^

I think its pretty much an unwritten NFL rule that the clipboard holders should be as close to invisible as possible, not wearing a flashing neon look-at-me-sign over their head.

OwenGoBlue

July 28th, 2017 at 4:21 PM ^

If you read John Harbaugh's comments, he's pretty clear that they're looking for a camp arm, not a permanent roster spot, and he was pretty clear that probably wouldn't align with what Kaep's goals are. So I don't know if it's accurate to say they signed this scrub OVER Kaep, just that they signed this dude and didn't sign Kaep.

AVPBCI

July 28th, 2017 at 6:28 PM ^

didn't Kaeperrnick have years left on his contract and then he decided he wanted to be a free agent and had it redone ?

bacon1431

July 28th, 2017 at 6:59 PM ^

He's getting blackballed. Plain and simple. Unfortunately for him, it's a hard thing for him to prove. He would be the best backup in the league, most likely. No reason he shouldn't be signed. NFL's continuous slandering ability is hilarious though. He's not Joe Montana, but he's no slouch either. In 20 years, everyone will look back on this differently IMO.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

July 28th, 2017 at 7:24 PM ^

I don't like Kaepernick one bit and I completely agree he's being blackballed.  Because there's a very good reason he's not being signed: NFL owners rather rightly fear he's going to turn off a large segment of their customer base.

I don't see why owners shouldn't have the right not to sign someone.

bacon1431

July 28th, 2017 at 8:44 PM ^

And yet less than 3% said they stopped watching because of him (if that's even the real reason). If NFL owners were really concerned about losing viewers, they'd try to address the number and length of commercial breaks. They want him to shut up and don't GAF about the issue of how people of color are treated by law enforcement. I'd have more respect if the owners and the NFL just came out and said it instead of having the NFL crony writers wrote piece after piece of utter BS

TheBorg

July 29th, 2017 at 3:40 AM ^

wiould help buttress your position.  However, a Rasmussen poll taken Oct. 2 - Oct 3 of 1000 online respondants revealed the following:

- 13% said they would more likely watch an NFL game because of the petulant protests

- 32% said they would be less likely to watch an NFL game for the same reason

- 35% of the women in the poll said they'd be less likley to wacth, whereas 8% said they'd be more likely 

Further, viewership per game was down:

2016 = 17.6 million

2015 = 19.6 million

2014 = 19,2 million

 

The facts lead to the conclusion that more people tuned out NFL games than tuned in because of the disrespectful and iimmature antics while the national anthem played. Further, outreach efforts to attract more women viewers were circumvented by the snowflakes that don NFL uniforms.  The reduction in viewership has nothing to do with commericals - either the length or number of them or both - as the viewership was increasing year over year until the SJW's of the gridiron made fools of themselves whilst the anthem played.  Still, there's little doubt he should be on an NFL roster this season.  

Honk if Ufer M…

July 30th, 2017 at 4:18 AM ^

Why do the owners have a right to exist? Why do they have the right to anti-trust exemption?

Who the fuck are the owners? How are they owners? Who pays for the stadiums? Who pays every single penny that comes in? Even when billionaire owners paid or pay for their own stadiums or portions of them, they get loans to do it. Loans that non rich people wouldn't and couldn't get. Loans that citizens groups wanting to be worker owned co-op owners of teams or stadiums wouldn't get.

32 slave owning racist public scamming pieces of shit get HALF the fucking money that the PLAYERS generate and the fans pay? Nobody has a constitutional right to be licensed as a corporation.

The design and intent was that corporations get the BENEFITS from the people, of being a corporation, ONLY if the entity was a public good and acted for the good of society, otherwise they got the corporate death penalty, and it used to happen on a regular basis in the early days.

Why do cities and states let them hold them hostage, threaten to leave, to leave, and to blackmail into public payments? How about fuck you we won't let you operate in our cities or states? How about if we pay for a fucking stadium we'll put our own team in it and run our own league?

How about we lease or build the stadiums for a player owned league that could cut the prices in half, of tickets, parking, food and merch by simply FIRING the tiny cabal of 32 corporate welfare cheating crooks, the middle men/pimps skimming half the money, standing between you and your football teams!?

Rabbit21

July 28th, 2017 at 8:13 PM ^

He's not a great passer and needs an offense designed around his strengths to be effective, not a recipe for a great backup even without the flag stuff, which doesn't help, but Peter King and co. pretending the only reason he doesn't have a job is just because he "took a stand" and metaphorically pissing on something that means a great deal to a lot of people is pretty disingenuous. The only reason this is a story is it fits a political narrative NFL writers are interested in pushing as Kaepernicks star was setting in a similar fashion to Vince Youngs, just read what was being written last year before kneeling-gate.

Honk if Ufer M…

July 30th, 2017 at 5:21 AM ^

The anthem stands for the government that has NEVER not oppressed and fucked his people, and if you're ignorant and juvenile love for the flag and anthem means it's more offensive to you that he protests it, than it is that the country and government the anthem represents has done and is still doing the things, and has allowed what has happened to black people in this country, to happen, then you're a despicable fuck.

If there was another country that somehow caused the mass of white America to be subjected to the treatment and forced or caused circumstances that black American lives in and has always lived in, for even a single fucking day, there would be at least 95% support from white America to respond with all out nuclear attack of said country!

Yet not only hasn't black America gone to war against this country, like you would in their shoes in a hundredth of a heartbeat, but you act like the mildest possible form of silent and peaceful protest to 500 years of slavery, tyranny & degradation is a fucking outrage that you have the right to be offended by!!!

Look at the hatred of Iran and everyone else you're stupid enough to hate for the benefit of the worst corporate criminals in human history, what in the fuck has any of them done to you or us? Do you seriously think there's any justification for your feelings against them at all, or that they have somehow wronged us in a way that's even one one zillionth as much as we have wronged black people? Are you fucking crazy?

Do you really not know the history? That we overthrew their first democratically elected president and installed, funded, armed and backed a brutal dictator for 30 fucking years until the revolution? How's that for "election meddling"?

Then when the response to our rescuing, protecting, harboring and giving medical care to the criminal against humanity dictator, was to take a handful of US officials hostage, officials who helped, worked with and oversaw the dictator and his tyranny, again, an unbelievably mild response/protest, compared to the all out war that we would launch or try to, if anyone had done that to us, THAT's what makes THEM the bad guys? THAT is why WE hate THEM?

Think about that you wonderful soul, when they finally break free of decades long tyranny, again supported by the US and Great Britain, for the benefit of BP and Standard Oil, by electing Mossadegh, we steal their government and give them 30 years of a dictator, they reply with one year of holding 50 individual assholes, and for that we give close to 40 years of hate, demonizing, sanctions, threats and virtual war, with no end in sight!

 

 

PSU fans loved their icons, symbols and leaders too, and don't like that they were "pissed on," but in that case you're willing to recognize that they needed to be pissed on. Why isn't their love of Paterno & PSU football as worthy of being sensitive to and worried about more than being worried about the victims, as is the anthem/country rather than its victims? Maybe 15 victims are worse than 45 million now and god knows how many since 1492? Oddly enough the PSU victims were black too, but in this case football rivalry trumps all so THESE black victims suddenly get your sympathy or feigned sympathy! It sounds like if PSU had happened here, with Bo, you'd be EXACTLY like the weeping Ped St. fans demanding the statue back! At least if you were morally, ethically and logically consistent.

BornInAA

July 28th, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^

This stupid thread should be deleted.

The NFL and Kaepernick have nothing to do with University of Michigan sports.

People are attacking each other in the thread above.

 

TheBorg

July 29th, 2017 at 3:38 AM ^

I believe he is at 100% health-wise, and thus given his proven skill sets and accomplishments as a 49'er, NFL teams in need of a top quality backup with starting potential are missing out big time.  It seems like the owners simply don't want to piss off more fans than would be pleased by adding Colin.  A shameful waste of talent.