Will NFL suspend Colin Kaepernick for sitting out national anthem?

Colin Kaepernick chose to sit out Friday’s national anthem before the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers preseason game. Should the NFL suspend him?

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided that he was not going to participate in Friday’s national anthem before the 49ers took on the Green Bay Packers in their third preseason game.

Kaepernick elected not to partake in Friday’s national anthem because he “is not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” He said this to NFL Media’s Steve Wyche on Saturday and the 49ers have respected Kaepernick’s decision to not rise for the national anthem.

While it seems that Kaepernick and the 49ers organization have figured this out internally, could Kaepernick end up getting suspended by the NFL for his actions on Friday night? Should he be?

Kaepernick may not feel the need to express undying patriotism to the United States of America, but there is absolutely no reason that the NFL should suspend him for any length of time for exercising his rights.

The NFL does many things well, but levying out punishments is The Shield’s Achilles’ Heel. The NFL cannot be trusted to handle Kaepernick’s choice to exercise freedom of speech when the league has done a horrendous job in handling countless domestic violence issues, Deflategate, and a never-ending concussion lawsuit with former NFL players.

Commissioner Roger Goodell needs to let 49ers owner Jed York handle this how he chooses to and not get involved whatsoever. Goodell doesn’t need to another botched discipline-based fiasco on his rap sheet.

Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith points out former NBA commissioner David Stern suspended Mahmoud Abdul Rauf for the same thing back in the 1990s. Is it just inevitable that Goodell is going to suspend Kaepernick because of precedent?

The NFL may have the Supreme Court’s ear to flex its punitive muscles, but it needs to stay away from thinking it can override standards in place by the United States Constitution.

Next: Every NFL Team's Best Draft Pick Of All-Time

Kaepernick didn’t need to bring more negative attention to himself during a preseason where he is clearly losing his starting quarterback job to Blaine Gabbert but didn’t do anything wrong by choosing to sit out Friday’s National Anthem. Stay away from this, NFL. You can only lose.