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Jay-Z would like to make a Public Service Announcement. Shawn Carter (Jay-Z’s legal name) is expanding his entrepreneur skills and Empire State of Mind by teaming up with the front office of the NFL. This partnership could help Roger Goodell get that Dirt off (his) Shoulders by having Jay-Z help bridge the gap on the social justice and advise on selecting artists for major NFL music performances.
This partnership makes sense for picking the Super Bowl halftime show. (I would like to request Kanye’s private Sunday church service show.) Other music used in NFL promotions involving music will also be consulted with the 22-time Grammy award winner. However, the backlash has come from mostly Collin Kaepernick supporters who have People Talkin’. The NFL and Jay-Z feel their partnership is an important step and an opportunity to strengthen the fabric of communities across America. Kaepernick supporters view this as Can I Get A… betrayal? Jay-Z had praised Kaepernick’s protest and now he is playing for the other team while trying to say Money Ain’t a Thang.
While Kaepernick has been trying to get an NFL Encore, he has remained an unsigned free agent since 2017 after kneeling during the national anthem in 2016. (I fully support taking a stand (or a knee) for your rights. The issues is that Kaepernick’s message was never clear week-to-week as to why he was going to Do It Again. Half of the country saw him relaxing on the bench while stadiums were standing with their hand over their heart to honor those who fight for our freedom. If he would have just kneeled while having his hand over his heart, he could have shown the military that his kneeling wasn’t to disrespect them, but to bring attention to racial injustice.) His inconsistency to why and how he was protesting is what caused viewers to turn off the TV, stop attending games and stop supporting the NFL- who didn’t know how to stop him.
It doesn’t matter if you support or un-support Kaepernick’s protest. The facts are that his actions cost the NFL millions of dollars in lost revenue. That loss didn’t just hurt the owners, but it also hurt the players. Clay Travis said in his daily OutKick email: “Put it this way, many of you reading this right now have strong political opinions. But if one of your co-workers decided his (or her) political opinions were so important that he (or she) needed to make them in uniform at work and your resulting audience declined by nearly 20% for your business, would you support his (or her) right to protest even if it meant you’d eventually make 20% less? No way!”
Team Kaepernick blames the NFL for being unemployed. I blame his season in 2015, where he lost his starting QB job long before he took a knee. He went under the knife for multiple surgeries (thumb, knee and shoulder that we know of) following the 2015 season. Some people never get back to their pre-injury health causing their skills to decline and Songs Cry. What More Can I Say as to why would a team sign anyone who is the direct cause of declining revenue and is unable to win games on the field?
If you ask some people what is another word for sellout, they will chant: HOVA, HOVA, HOVA. While other Jay-Z supporters will say this is how you can Change the Game. Here’s where we need a Moment of Clarity. What is Jay-Z going to actually be doing? He was once one of Colin Kaepernick’s biggest supports and no NFL teams are interested in having him on their roster. With the NFL working with Jay-Z, is this a paycheck or is this really about social justice issues? All I Need to know who is really going to Run This Town?
Jay-Z is already facing 99 Problems with criticism, but the Streets is Watching. Part of Jay-Z joining the NFL front office team is that he will be able to become a part owner of an NFL franchise. So is this Politics as Usual? We don’t know all of the details as to which team Jay-Z plans to Take Over, but TMZ reported that it is going to happen in the near future. Can the Roc Boys replace the Cowboys?
Currently, Jay-Z has been Big Pimpin in the business world. Jay-Z owns Roc Nation, a sports agency firm that represents some of the best athletes in the country. But Jay-Z is not technically an agent himself. (Some professional player associations require agents to have an educational background. It is reported that Jaz-Z did not finish high school.) An agent owning a team is an ethical nightmare. But you Can’t Knock the Hustle. Jay-Z is no longer an owner of the Brooklyn Nets due to NBA franchise rules and owning a sports agency, but Jay-Z still owns a percentage of the Barclays Center. Brooklyn Go Hard!
This all just leads us to The BluePrint. Could this partnership be the Holy Grail to equality? Will it remain a Hard Knock Life for Kaepernick? Jigga….Who You Wit?
(Mom, all of the phrases in italics are titles of Jay-Z songs. No, Jay-Z does not have any songs with Carrie Underwood.)