I am very close as well. But I hate th idea of letting these people ruin all sports.
My view is that that football, both college and pro, are something of a conservative institution in the US. Not exclusively but predominately. The NFL under Pete Rozelle led the way in the pro game wrapping itself in patriotism and the flag. His goal was to have the NFL replace baseball as the #1 sport and become the new American pastime. The anthem, the flyovers, the flag itself presented by sharp-dressed soldiers pregame was all be design. It worked and the NFL's patriotic angle became part of the story of how football surpassed baseball as #1. And the US Military itself even got on board and became huge sponsors of football telecasts.
Now imagine you were a political operator tasked tasked with the job destroying the conservative voting block in the US. What would you go after? There was faith, of course, which has been under long term assault from the left. But then one of them decided undermining the love of football might also be a good path to achieve their goals. And so football became a target. The side that hates conservatives and hates Republicans having political power set out to fracture that support. It's working, look at you as just one example.
ont think this was Kaerpenick's goal. He is not that smart, plus he had he own personal demons he was working through when he first squatted on the flag. Same for our own players now. But you can bet there were others who saw the opportunity and encouraged them along the way. This is the "useful idiot" theory. There are some big time political players behind the scenes here taking advantage. Abandoning sports is letting these turds win.