The media has been writing and saying with great certainly that Kaepernick is not creating a division on the team. How exactly does the media know? After the Monday night win, Kaepernick held forth to reporters on his social causes. No one is questioning the rightness of Kap’s feelings. But as Kap held forth one offensive lineman angrily walked by the media and said the 9ers had just played a football game. Larry Krueger reported this. The lineman meant Kap should not have been the center of attention, meaning Kap was, in a sense, dumping on the win and the team.

My guess is — a hunch based on experience — other players feel like the lineman. That Kap needs to choose a better time and place. That maybe Chip Kelly should have told Kap to cool it in the postgame locker room. Players, I believe, do not publicly criticize Kap because they want to preserve the appearance of team unity and are going along with the company line that Kap is not a distraction and has a right to free speech and free protest.

I don’t often link to my son Grant but he wrote a cogent article on this topic. To read it click here.