Michael Vick Suggests that Colin Kaepernick Needs a Haircut

Former NFL quarterback and notorious dog murderer Michael Vick has chimed in with his two cents on the Colin Kaepernick soap opera.

According to Vick, Kaepernick’s militancy has less to do with him being unable to land a job than the fact that he just isn’t that good – and he needs to cut his hair.

Via The Sporting News “Michael Vick’s advice to Colin Kaepernick: Get a haircut”:

If Colin Kaepernick wants another chance in the NFL, the free-agent quarterback should start by ditching his Afro hairstyle and getting a haircut.

That was the surprising advice Kaepernick received Monday from former NFL QB Michael Vick.

“First thing we’ve got to get Colin to do is cut his hair,” Vick said during a guest appearance on Fox Sports 1’s “Speak for Yourself.” “Listen, I’m not up here to try to be politically correct. Even if he puts cornrows in there. I don’t think he should represent himself in that way (wearing the Afro). Just the hairstyle. Just go clean-cut. You know, why not? You’re already dealing with a lot.” Vick said the former 49ers starter’s goal should be to look more “presentable.”

Today’s Afro-wearing Kaepernick doesn’t resemble the young NFL star who led the 49ers to Super Bowl 47 in the 2012 season. Kaepernick embraced the look while in the middle of his national anthem protests last season.

“I just think perception and image is everything. This is not the Colin Kaepernick that we’ve known since he entered the National Football League,” Vick said. “I’m just going off my personal experiences. Listen, I love the guy to death. But I want him to also succeed on and off the field. This has to be a start for him.”

Vick said people advised him during his own career to adopt a professional look, but he didn’t listen until the end of his playing days. He also said he realized he needed to clean up his image if he wanted a second chance in the NFL after spending 18 months in prison for financing a dogfighting ring and being directly involved in the killing of dogs.

That said, Vick believes Kaepernick’s unemployment has more to do with his play over the past two seasons than with perhaps being blackballed by the league over his social stances, as many people believe.

Vick has had more than his share of problems since being drafted first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001.

He was sent to prison for his role in running a dogfighting ring in which animals were hanged, drowned, electrocuted and shot – this in addition to the cruelty of pitting the animals against each other.

Vick was suspended by the NFL and missed two seasons but returned with the Philadelphia Eagles where he led the team to the playoffs twice. He finished out his 13-year-career as a backup for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kaepernick defenders will be quick to slam the dog murderer but unlike the former San Francisco 49er, Vick was able to play the game at a high level after his problems – and he never publicly wiped his ass with the American flag.

But Vick does have a point about the Black Panther style afro, it does represent an optics problem for a guy who badly needs to clean up his image and renounce his past if he ever wants to play in the NFL again.

The suggestion didn’t go over well with Kaepernick who quickly tweeted out a rebuttal that suggests that Vick is suffering from “Stockholm Syndrome”, not a positive sign that he is willing to clean up his image anytime soon.