Charles Barkley Says Colin Kaepernick Is Being Blackballed by NFL Owners

Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is among those who believe NFL owners could be conspiring to keep Colin Kaepernick out of the league.

"The dude is getting blackballed because he's messing with those dudes' money," Barkley said, alluding to league owners, at the convention of National Association of Black Journalists on Thursday, per The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears.

In May, The MMQB's Jenny Vrentas spoke to New York Giants co-owner John Mara regarding Kaepernick's free agency. Mara said the Giants never threw around the idea of signing Kaepernick, but that didn't stop New York fans from voicing their disapproval with the prospect.

"All my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue," Mara said. "If any of your players ever do that, we are never coming to another Giants game. It wasn’t one or two letters. It was a lot. It’s an emotional, emotional issue for a lot of people, moreso than any other issue I’ve run into."

Speaking Tuesday on the Michael Kay Show (h/t NJ Advance Media's Dan Duggan), Mara said, however, that he doesn't believe owners are blackballing Kaepernick from the NFL.

The 29-year-old quarterback had been linked with the Baltimore Ravens after Joe Flacco suffered a back injury. But ESPN's Dianna Russini reported Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti had expressed some reservations about signing Kaepernick.

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome gave a statement refuting the report:

ESPN's Josina Anderson reported the Miami Dolphins' front office had also included Kaepernick on a list of potential free-agent targets after Ryan Tannehill suffered a knee injury. Miami signed Jay Cutler instead, with SiriusXM's Craig Mish reporting the Dolphins had neither contacted Kaepernick nor considered him a serious option in the event their pursuit of Cutler failed.