Ray Lewis thinks he knows why the Baltimore Ravens opted not to sign Colin Kaepernick. And his reason seems to be pretty flimsy.
Lewis said on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” that aired Tuesday that the Ravens didn’t sign Kaepernick because they came across a tweet from the free agent quarterback’s girlfriend that they found offensive.
Here’s the tweet sent by Kaepernick’s girlfriend Nessa Diab that was directed at Ray Lewis that apparently caused the issue.
@raylewis pic.twitter.com/N9k7nDgmDh
— NESSA (@nessnitty) August 3, 2017
The photos show Ray Lewis with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, comparing him to the house slave played by Samuel L. Jackson in “Django Unchained.” Jackson’s character backed the slave owner at every turn despite the man’s poor treatment of slaves.
Lewis then told the story of what happened.
“When me and Steve Bisciotti were talking, this is what we were talking about, Judy (Bautista). We were talking about giving this kid an opportunity to get back in the National Football League. Look, this is what I wanted to share with people. I have been fighting for this kid behind the table like nobody has. Nobody had this kid a job in the National Football League. I can say I did. I’ve never been against Colin Kaepernick. But I am against the way he’s done it.
“But then his girl (Colin Kaepernick’s girlfriend) goes out and put out this racist gesture and doesn’t know we are in the back office about to try to get this guy signed. Steve Bisciotti has said himself, ‘how can you crucify Ray Lewis when Ray Lewis is the one calling for Colin Kaepernick?”
Lewis then said it was the tweet from Nessa that undid the deal.
“The only thing that went bad was that image when she tried to make us racist individuals. That’s the sad part about this story.”
This is certainly a new one. Some reasons given for teams passing on Kaepernick have ranged from not wanting the distraction; to him wanting too much money; to teams fearing fan backlash; to him not being better than the other QB options. And then there could also be the explanation that he is being blackballed because of his notorious national anthem protest.
When it was first learned that Joe Flacco would miss time in training camp with a back injury, the Ravens acknowledged they were contemplating signing Kaepernick. They said they would check fan reaction first and they ultimately decided to pass on Kaepernick. Excuse us for calling B.S. on Lewis’ explanation for why they passed; that seems like a truly lame excuse for a team not wanting the attention or P.R. hit. Even Brent Grimes keeps finding jobs and his wife has done much worse than Kaepernick’s girlfriend.
