Despite NFL Settlement, Nation Evenly Divided on Kaepernick Impact

Despite NFL Settlement, Nation Evenly Divided on Kaepernick Impact

But by 3-to-1, public thinks his chance of a new contract in the NFL has decreased

South Orange NJ, February 28, 2019 — The confidential settlement of Colin Kaepernick’s lawsuit against the NFL finds the nation evenly divided on its impact on his protests.

In a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted this week, by a margin of 44-42%, the public says the settlement has not diminished the impact of his protest.

By 45-40%, the public believes the settlement is an admission by the NFL that collusion by NFL teams against him took place.

When the question of approval for Kaepernick was asked in September 2017, his support was only 32%, with disapproval at 44%.

While white respondents are evenly divided on whether the settlement diminished the impact of the protests, by 2 to 1 African-Americans believe that it does. Whites are also evenly divided on whether it the settlement is an admission of collusion by the NFL, but African-Americans believe it is by 3 to 1.

794 adult Americans were polled on both landlines and cellphones, a margin of +/- 3.5%.

Despite a fairly close overall division on whether or not the settlement was an admission on the part of the NFL, by more than a 3-1 margin (41-13%), respondents believed that Kaepernick’s chance of being signed to a new NFL contract has decreased because of the settlement.

“People remain divided regarding the message of his kneeling during the national anthem,” noted Rick Gentile, director of the poll, which is sponsored by the Sharkey Institute in the Stillman School of Business. “But there certainly seems to be a feeling that doors are not going to open for the renewal of his career.”

Disapproval of U. of Mississippi Basketball Protesters

In a related matter, by a 42-29% margin, people disapproved of the University of Mississippi basketball players kneeling last weekend to protest an on campus rally honoring Confederate soldiers. That margin draws a close comparison to the September 2017 Kaepernick findings. However, 12 out of 13 African-Americans offered support of the protest.

The Official Seton Hall Sports Poll podcast discussing this topic with Seth Everett and Rick Gentile can be found at https://itunes.apple.com/mt/podcast/seton-hall-sports-poll/id1053266467.

Results breakdown below; this release may be found online at http://blogs.shu.edu/sportspoll/2019/02/28/despite-nfl-settlement-nation-evenly-divided-on-kaepernick-impact/

The Official Seton Hall Sports Poll podcast discussing this topic with Seth Everett and Rick Gentile can be found at https://itunes.apple.com/mt/podcast/seton-hall-sports-poll/id1053266467.

 

ABOUT THE POLL

The Seton Hall Sports Poll has been conducted regularly since 2006.Recently chosen for inclusion in iPoll by Cornell’s Roper Center for Public Opinion Research,its findings have been published everywhere from USA Today, ESPN, The New York Times, Washington Post, AP, and Reuters to Fox News and most points in between.

This poll was conducted by telephone February 25-27 among adults in the United States. The Seton Hall Sports Poll is conducted by the Sharkey Institute within the Stillman School of Business. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard landline and cell phones.  The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.


Media:
 Media: Marty Appel, AppelPR@gmail.com;
Michael Ricciardelli, Associate Director of Media Relations, Seton Hall
michael.ricciardelli@shu.edu, 908-447-3034

ABOUT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

One of the country’s leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall has been showing the world what great minds can do since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 rigorous academic programs, Seton Hall’s academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Seton Hall embraces students of all religions and prepares them to be exemplary servant leaders and global citizens. In recent years, the University has achieved extraordinary success. Since 2009, it has seen record-breaking undergraduate enrollment growth and an impressive 110-point increase in the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen. In the past decade, Seton Hall students and alumni have received more than 30 Fulbright Scholarships as well as other prestigious academic honors, including Boren Awards, Pickering Fellowships, Udall Scholarships and a Rhodes Scholarship. The University is also proud to be the third most diverse national Catholic university in the nation.

During the past five years, the University has invested more than $165 million in new campus buildings and renovations. And in 2015, Seton Hall launched a School of Medicine as well as a College of Communication and the Arts. The University’s beautiful main campus in suburban South Orange, N.J. is only 14 miles from New York City — offering students a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. Seton Hall’s nationally recognized School of Law is located prominently in downtown Newark. The University’s Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. opened in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus houses the University’s College of Nursing, School of Health and Medical Sciences and the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.

For more information, visit www.shu.edu.

 

The results:

1. Eight men’s basketball players on the University of Mississippi team knelt during the national anthem last Saturday in response to a pro-Confederate rally taking place on campus. Do you approve, disapprove or have no opinion of the players’ action?

1 – Approve                                        29%

            2 – Disapprove                                    42

            3 – Don’t know/No opinion                  29

2. Colin Kaepernick recently won a settlement of a lawsuit from the NFL accusing the league of collusion by teams not signing him because of his protests during the national anthem. Do you think his acceptance of a settlement diminishes the impact of his protest?

1 – Yes                                                 42

            2 – No                                                  44

            3 – Don’t know/No opinion                  15

3. Do you think the NFL’s offer of a settlement is an admission that collusion against Kaepernick took place?

1 – Yes                                                 45

            2 – No                                                  40

            3 – Don’t know                                     15

4. Do you think the settled lawsuit has increased, decreased or has had no effect on Kaepernick’s chances of being signed to an NFL contract and continuing his career?

1 – Increased                                       13

            2 – Decreased                                     41

            3 – Had no effect                                 46

5. How closely would you say you follow sports, very closely, closely, not closely or not at all?

1 – Very closely                                   20

            2 – Closely                                           35

            3 – Not closely                                     29

            4 – Not at all                                         15

 

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