Shannon: ‘It’s a huge, huge deal’ Aaron Rodgers said Colin Kaepernick should be playing

– How big of a deal is this?

– Skip, this is a huge, huge deal. This is a pantheon great quarterback– not currently playing, but a pantheon great of all time that's currently playing. And he feels– now, remember, skip, this article was done in July sometime. And this is not after Charlottesville. So it's not 20/20 hindsight.

He's sitting down, because he knows this. Colin Kaepernick can say, I've done something that no other quarterback in the NFL has ever done. I've beaten Aaron Rodgers twice in a playoff game–

SKIP BAYLESS: That's true.

– –once in his building, once in my building. It also destroys the narrative that Colin Kaepernick is not on a team because he can't play. We know Colin Kaepernick can play.

Now, he didn't say Colin Kaepernick should be starting. I believe– you and I both believe– that Colin Kaepernick is a good enough quarterback to start. He said, but he should be on a roster.

– Yep.

– Given what he's been able to accomplish in the National Football League, even if you just take last year's number– forget that he went to the Super Bowl. He went to another NFC– went to another NFC title game. The thing that I love most is that he could have avoided the topic. He could have said, I want to say this, but don't put my name, and source NFL great quarterback currently playing thinks Colin Kaepernick should be on a roster. That doesn't give it the same– the same boost–

SKIP BAYLESS: Nope.

– –the same juice as Aaron Rodgers saying, he should be on a roster. This earpiece is driving me crazy. Skip, I believe that he and Tom Brady probably are the two most qualified to probably speak on Colin Kaepernick and give the– what Colin Kaepernick is kneeling for– give it the attention that it deserves.

Now, the only– Skip, I've read this– I read what he had– this article. And we're going to talk about it later. I read it three times. The only part that I disagree with Aaron Rodgers is, he, said they have a battle for racial equality. We– America–

SKIP BAYLESS: I'm with you.

– –has a problem with racial equality. We– America– has a problem with gender equality. That's the only thing. And I'm nitpicking, Skip. And I don't want to nitpick because I–

SKIP BAYLESS: No, I got it. That word also hit me. That choice of– yes.

– Yeah. The term that he– so Skip, players know, like you said. Now, we go back and forth and I josh you– well, this one poll said Dak Prescott is the 77th best player. But the players said Dak is the 14th best player. And you know, we go into it every year around the Hall of Fame voting and Hall of Fame time that players that are in the Hall of Fame should have a vote. Because the guys that are in that building knows what a Hall of Famer is.

SKIP BAYLESS: Yep.

– I would believe that Aaron Rodgers– he knows a good quarterback when he sees one. He believes that Colin Kaepernick's merit– his ability– should have him on a roster. And think about the word that he used, Skip. And I told you, when I– I am very, very hesitant to use this word. He said "ignorant." He said it would be ignorant to think that his activism has nothing to do with the reasons he's not on a roster.

That's Aaron Rodgers. He could have said nothing. He could have skirted the issue. Or he could have said, don't use my name. Just say it's– NFL quarterback thinks Colin Kaepernick should be on a roster.

This is huge. This is huge. Because it destroys the narrative that Colin Kaepernick can't play, and that his protest plays no bearing on why he's not on a current roster. So kudos to Aaron Rodgers. Because he could have said nothing. Instead, he put his name behind and said, I think Colin Kaepernick is good enough to be on a roster.