Fans have been open in saying that NFL owners are purposely keeping Colin Kaepernick unemployed for kneeling during the national anthem last season as a protest against racism and the police brutality of unarmed Black men. How else could you explain Kaepernick having better statistics than several employed NFL QBs and still not having a job in the league?

Well, now, arguably the best quarterback in the league is saying much of the same.

In a new feature in ESPN The Magazine, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers says it's "ignorant" to think that Kaepernick's season-long protest isn't affecting his employment status with an NFL team.

"I think he should be on a roster right now," Rodgers says in the feature story about him. "I think because of his protests, he's not."

Although Rodgers has and will continue to stand during the national anthem, he supports those teammates who do not.

"I'm gonna stand because that's the way I feel about the flag, but I'm also 100 percent supportive of my teammates or any fellow players who are choosing not to," Rodgers continued. "They have a battle for racial equality. That's what they're trying to get a conversation started around."

And he was just warming up tackling the issue.

"I think the best way I can say this is: I don't understand what it's like to be in that situation," he added. "What it is to be pulled over, or profiled, or any number of issues that have happened, that Colin was referencing — or any of my teammates have talked to me about. But I know it's a real thing my black teammates have to deal with."

To that, Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb credits Rodgers for being a "sponge" and listening to his black teammates.

"As we've grown closer, I've been able to give him the perspective of a black man who grew up in the South and opened his eyes to the challenges in my life," Cobb told the magazine about his friendship with Rodgers. "Football is one of the things we rarely talk about when we're outside the building."

With more and more people speaking about Kaepernick, do you think an NFL franchise will give him a shot?

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