We’ll just go ahead and mark down former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick as a “solid no” for his reaction to “social justice” messaging in stadiums around the country on Sunday, as the NFL kicked off the first weekend of its 2020 season.

Not that there was any way Kaepernick, who started this whole anthem protest thing in 2016, was going to be pleased with the “festivities,” regardless of how much prostration Commissioner Roger Goodell and his league put on display, the former QB wasn’t impressed.

In a word, Kaepernick called the social-justice messaging “propaganda,” in a tweet taking the NFL to task.

“While the NFL runs propaganda about how they care about Black Life, they are still actively blackballing Eric Reid (@E_Reid35)
for fighting for the Black community. Eric set 2 franchise records last year, and is one of the best defensive players in the league.”

While the NFL runs propaganda about how they care about Black Life, they are still actively blackballing Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) for fighting for the Black community. Eric set 2 franchise records last year, and is one of the best defensive players in the league. https://t.co/KQXTaOCcnU

— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 13, 2020

Kaepernick’s reference to his former teammate was in response to a Deadspin article titled “The NFL is Blackballing Eric Reid, too,” which charges, in effect, that Reid is being “Kaepernicked” by the league.

Like Kaepernick, Reid is being blackballed for wanting killer cops to stop getting away with murder.https://t.co/BzlyKF6rq7 via @deadspin

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) September 13, 2020

Reid is being punished. He is being colluded against just as he was colluded against as a free agent at the start of the 2018 season, before he filed a lawsuit claiming just that, even after one prospective team asked if he would kneel.

Reid is not only being punished for taking a knee, and speaking out on racial injustice. He is also likely being punished for being the single loudest voice against the corrupt NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement that has gutted disability benefits for retired players. In the NFL’s eyes, that might be a greater offense than taking his knee.

As reported by the New York Post,  the 28-year-old Reid is one of the top free agents on the market. He started every game for the Carolina Panthers last season, notching 130 tackles and four sacks.

When Kaepernick first knelt for the national anthem in 2016, Reid was the first 49ers teammate to join him. Kaepernick and Reid reached an undisclosed settlement — reportedly less than $10 million — with the NFL in February 2019 over their collusion grievance against the league and owners, according to The Post.

While NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in 2016 spoke out against Kaepernick and kneeling during the anthem, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the ever-presence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Goodell has practically done cartwheels in Kaepernick’s yard, profusely apologizes, prostrating himself before the Black Lives Matter altar, and declaring how the league would help stamp out “systemic racism” in America.

How can I put this, tactfully? Roger Goodell, like NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, has been a pathetic joke. They have shamed once-proud American sports to the point that millions of fans no longer give a damn about their games, much less their never-ending pandering.

But still, as Kaepernick sees it, it’s not enough.

Guess what? It’s never going to be enough in the eyes of the Black Lives Matter movement, and those who support it. (See: “entire Democrat Party,” “liberal media.”)

As the charade continues, at least one player on Sunday “got it right.”

In a Monday piece titled As the NFL Celebrates Criminals and Bad Narratives, the Jaguars’ Tyler Eifert Gets It Right, my RedState colleague Brandon Morse reported on how Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Tyler Eifert stood tall among the protesting players.

Or should I say Eifert’s helmet stood tall?

“Great win to start the season. Love being a part of this new team and community! It was an honor wearing David Dorns [sic] name on my helmet today!”

Great win to start the season. Love being a part of this new team and community! It was honor wearing David Dorns name on my helmet today! #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/cJYtadhVuS

— Tyler Eifert (@tylereifert) September 14, 2020

David Dorn was the retired Black police officer murdered during rioting in St. Louis while defending a friend’s pawn shop.

As Morse wrote:

Dorn was murdered by rioters while defending a friend’s pawn shop from the rioting/looting. His death was aired in real-time on Facebook Live where his grandson watched events unfold at that moment. He can be seen taking his last breaths in the video as a man filming the entire thing begs him to stay with him while angrily yelling at the rioters.

The subsequent silence on Dorn from the activist community and mainstream media outraged America, especially as they spoke relentlessly about police action against what they called “peaceful protesters” while they stood in front of burning buildings. […] Dorn was an upstanding member of his community, having served it as police chief for years.

Consider where we are as a country, folks. It was not all that long ago when malcontents like Colin Kaepernick were a rarity, and patriots like Tyler Eifert were the norm. That reality has been reversed.

Sports is sports. But when we arrive at a place where heroes like David Dorn become footnotes; casualties of a “greater” cause, while criminals are celebrated, we are in a troublesome place indeed.