With Colin Kaepernick likely to stay in San Francisco for the time being, will he be an issue in the locker room? One former NFL star believes the answer is yes.
Both LaDainian Tomlinson and former 49ers fullback Michael Robinson believe that Kaepernick’s presence in the locker room will cause problems for the 49ers.
“He shows up, and no I wouldn’t take a pay cut, I got $12 million guaranteed, why would I ever take a pay cut? I don’t care how much I want to get out of here,” Robinson said Monday on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access,” via NFL Media’s Kevin Patra. “I’ve got a feeling he showed up today all smiles. Probably balled up some paper and threw it in the front of the class room a few times, to mess with some guys. If they don’t get him out of this locker room, he’s eventually going to be a problem. He doesn’t want to be there.”
Tomlinson agreed.
“Other guys in this locker room, they are wondering, ‘Why is he here?’” Tomlinson said. “They are kinda looking (sideways), like man, seriously? Because you know if a guy already said he doesn’t want to be here and he’s already met with John Elway and the Denver Broncos’ brass, your teammates are thinking: ‘He’s out of here, why is he still in our locker room? He doesn’t want to be here.’ And it will cause a problem, no matter what anybody says. It’s going to cause a problem that he’s in that locker room.
“He’s not going to listen to anything that Chip Kelly has to say to him, because he already in his mind believes that he’s going to be gone. So as Chip is up there talking, he’s probably rolling his eyes — probably not literally, but in the back of his mind thinking, ‘Man, I don’t agree with anything this guy is saying because I’m not going to be here.’ So it’s just a big mess.”
Much has been made of Kaepernick’s destination, but what if he does end up staying in San Francisco now that his move to Denver is apparently on hold? We’re talking about a guy who has reportedly faced criticism from teammates before, and this isn’t a case of the Niners trying to push Kaepernick out – he’s the one requesting a trade. Will there be issues in the locker room? If the other players think the way these two former pros believe they will, there certainly could.
