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The internet is shining its judgmental light on a now deleted tweet from Buffalo native and Rochester Democrat and Chronicle writer Sal Maiorana because he wrote:
Kaepernick. Always so media friendly. Turn your cap around and act like a professional quarterback."
Pretty ignorant.
1) He did act like a professional quarterback, he's a pretty good one. He played at a mid-major college, worked his way up from the backup spot and is now playing in his second consecutive NFC Championship game.
2) In defense of his tweet, he referred to Russell Wilson as Kaepernick's "peer". Kaepernick's truest peer is actually Tom Brady. Both QBs unheralded on draft day, both having to unseat a #1 overall draft pick to earn their starting spot (Bledsoe/Smith). Both had those #1 picks sent packing (Bills/Chiefs) while continuing to win.
Brady went 20-10 as a starter in his 2nd and 3rd seasons as a pro, while going 3-0 in the playoffs en route to a super bowl win in his first season, and missing the playoffs in his second season.
Kaepernick is 17-6 as a starter in his 2nd and 3rd seasons as a pro, while going 2-1 in the playoffs en route to a super bowl appearance in his first season, and 2-0 in the playoffs this year earning back-to-back NFC Championship appearances.
If Kaepernick isn't a "professional Quarterback" why is he winning like Brady, the archetypical winning professional QB?
3) According to Sal, Kaepernick's professional status is based entirely on his hat position. A position he undoubtedly attributes to Black culture.
I can write another 1,000 words after #3 to explain why Sal Maiorana's tweet is racist. But the actual point of this article is another very ignorant post from Mr. Maiorana that is still undeleted...
Way to go Thomas, whoever you are. Game over. Panthers have been idiots all day. 49ers weren't much better though. Shut up and play
— Sal Maiorana (@salmaiorana) January 12, 2014
Sal, doesn't know who Josh Thomas is.
1) Thomas played at UB for 4 years, and was drafted to the Dallas Cowboys. A pretty big deal for a Buffalo area college athlete.
2) Sal covered the Bills-Carolina game this year, and it's not like Thomas was a fringe player, he was the starting cornerback for that game. In the build up to the game, Thomas was a major storyline:
Here is an article from that week about Thomas getting a vote of confidence for the CB2 spot.
Here is an ESPN article that mentions both Thomas and Munnerlyn as the corners going into the game.
Here is an article by Sal Maiorana where before you hit the pay wall, Maiorana mentions an "injury-depleted Carolina secondary" as an explanation for the Bills comeback. He must not have paid attention to the biggest injury to the secondary, which occurred in the game, when Josh Thomas concussed himself.
3) Here is a video of Sal doing WGRZ video after that Bills Carolina Panthers game.
WGRZ and UB just agreed on a partnership. If WGRZ is to be the home of the Buffalo Bulls, it might be a good idea for Sal to brush up on some of the UB basics.
4) Sal was corrected by of all people Mike Harrington...although not very confidently. You would think Sal would delete his tweet once he realized, hmm maybe I should have know who Josh Thomas was...but he didn't.
I think the undeleted tweet about Thomas shows both ignorance and arrogance, Sal probably thinks, who cares if I'm ignorant about a UB Bull.
With his tweet, Sal reinforces the perception that the local media doesn't care about UB athletics. Personally, this is why I don't care about losing the "Buffalo" in the NY Bulls rebrand, as they say, with friends like these, who needs enemies.
For Sal, I hope this episode teaches him about the pitfalls of hegemony, and at the very least, I hope it encourages him to find out who Khalil Mack is, before he tweets:
"Khalil Mack, whoever he is, was picked #6 overall..."