Kaepernick and Mahomes: Two quarterbacks so much alike and yet so far apart

What do Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Mahomes have in common?

They were the two biggest newsmakers in the National Football League over the Fourth of July weekend.

Each has been a highly successful NFL quarterback and they are arguably two of the most talented athletes ever to play the position.

Both are biracial, born to Black fathers and white mothers.

But that's where the similarities end.

Mahomes made his news by becoming the highest paid player in all of professional sports, having inked a 10-year contract extension with the Kansas City Chiefs that is reportedly worth up to $500 million, $140 million of it guaranteed for injury.

By all accounts it couldn't happen to a better or more deserving young man, and perhaps most importantly relevant to the Kaepernick comparison, it assures him the opportunity to be one of the most important voices in the world for his sport, his family and his race should he choose to use it in that fashion.

Is it a smart move by the Chiefs?

We've all seen what injuries can do to an NFL career seemingly out of nowhere, and Mahomes did suffer a serious injury on a relatively benign play last season.

He also wouldn't be the first player to rocket to stardom early and fade just as quickly.

But while the money is astronomical today, Mahomes could be a bargain in six or seven years based on the way NFL salary caps have increased in past seasons, and he is clearly a special player.

It's a gamble for the Chiefs but a very educated one that looks like a smart move today.

Speaking of rocketing to stardom and flaming out just as quickly, we have Kaepernick.

During the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons, he was one of the most electric players in the NFL, leading the San Francisco 49ers to two NFC title games and the 2013 Super Bowl.

But following the '14 season, 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh left for the University of Michigan and Kaepernick made it through just eight 2015 games before injuries to his left shoulder, thumb and knee, all of which required surgery, cost him the rest of the season.

Kaepernick's 2016 season is remembered almost exclusively for his decision to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem to protest the unlawful treatment of people of color by police, for which he was attacked by Donald Trump and blackballed by the NFL, never to play again.

While Kaepernick's status had been a political hot potato over the last three seasons, in light of the recent racial unrest in America over law enforcement's treatment of minorities and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's sudden awakening to past mistakes, he has become a hero of sorts for his stance on the issue almost four years ago, and it seemed like his chance to return to the game was imminent.

That was until Kaepernick took to Twitter to tweet, "Black ppl have been dehumanized, brutalized, criminalized + terrorized by America for centuries, & are expected to join your commemoration of 'independence,' while you enslaved our ancestors. We reject your celebration of white supremacy & look forward to liberation for all."

I will leave it to each of you and your own feelings as to how you feel about the tweet and resist the temptation to share mine.

But I will make an educated bet, much like the Chiefs did on Mahomes, by saying Kaepernick's NFL career is now over.

In a few seconds on Twitter, on the Fourth of July, Kaepernick chose to take his hard-earned high ground and toss it right out the window.

No, as a white man I will never fully understand the Black experience in America.

But regardless of your race, it isn't hard to know that tweet is the kind of divisive rhetoric that no NFL owner or head coach is likely to want in their locker rooms, or more so to try and sell to their fan bases.

I have wondered for some time whether Kaepernick really wants to return to the NFL.

I am not offering an opinion on whether or not he should, but after reading that tweet, it seems pretty obvious he doesn't really care.

• Twitter: @Hub_Arkush