Isaiah Crowell and Colin Kaepernick: A tale of two controversies

Isaiah Crowell immediately found himself in the middle of a controversy after the Instagram picture. The message of the picture seemed to imply that killing police officers was acceptable, and fans and the police were outraged over such a violent message.

Crowell immediately took the image down and apologized for the post. He was contrite and showed remorse over the issue. However, his apology rang hollow to the Cleveland police union, which threatened to boycott working security at Browns games. Even the Browns front office responded to Crowell’s apology by telling Crowell he needed to make a “positive difference” moving forward.

Related: Isaiah Crowell appeases police union

Crowell then reached out to the Dallas Police Department, which welcomed Crowell, met with him, listened to what he had to say about the issue, and began working for a solution. Crowell then pledged one game check to the Dallas Police Department. He later stated that the way he originally handled the issue made him part of the problem and not the solution.

And with that, Crowell’s controversy abated.

Colin Kaepernick found himself in a controversy after refusing to stand for the national anthem. However his attempts have backfired as his message that “minorities are mistreated in the United States” has been lost in the midst of the Kaepernick story. Every major sports reporting outlet has focused not on the message, but on whether or not Kaepernick will stand for the anthem.

Kaepernick continued to cause controversy when he wore a pair of socks depicting pigs wearing police uniforms. The socks were worn as a protest against “rogue cops” who “put the community in danger.”

At the time of this writing, Kaepernick’s actions have drawn negative attention to himself and produced animosity between the San Francisco 49ers and the law enforcement community. The local police union is currently allowing officers to boycott working at 49ers games, claiming that Kaepernick’s actions have created a hostile and unsafe working environment for the officers.

Kaepernick’s actions have escalated into a controversy with rising tensions. Also, his actions have helped to make the story about Kaepernick. What will he do next? Will he stand for the anthem? Will other teams be interested in him if he is cut due to the controversy?

The message of police brutality has been completely lost in the reporting and Kaepernick has failed to bring awareness to his issue. Furthermore, he has done nothing to resolve the issue. If anything he has made the situation more tense in the San Francisco area.

He is a man who perceives an issue to be resolved. But so far, his actions have not resolved the issue.

Next: Actions Speak Louder than Words