More than seven years since he played in his last NFL game, Colin Kaepernick is still hoping for an opportunity to return to the league.
In an interview with Adriana Diaz of CBS Mornings (starts at 2:55 mark), Kaepernick said he “absolutely” still wants to play professional football and trains regularly five or six days per week.
Kaepernick also told Diaz his camp still contacts all 32 NFL teams throughout the year to get a chance to showcase what he can do (starts at 3:50 mark).
“My biggest thing is, just let me get on the field,” he said. “If I’m not good enough, cut me. But give me the chance to show you what I can do.”
Kaepernick spent six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to ’16. He threw for 12,271 yards, ran for 2,300 yards and accounted for 85 touchdowns in 69 games.
The 49ers advanced to Super Bowl 47 in 2012 after Kaepernick replaced Alex Smith as their starting quarterback midway through the regular season. His 181 rushing yards in the NFC Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers in January 2013 are the most
Throughout the 2016 season, Kaepernick protested before games by taking a knee before the national anthem in the wake of police shootings of Philando Castile, Charles Kinsey and the acquittal of police in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told Steve Wyche of NFL.com (h/t Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio) in August 2016. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Former 49ers head coach Chip Kelly, who was with the team during the 2016 season, said
After the 49ers hired Kyle Shanahan in February 2017, Kaepernick opted out of his contract the following month to become an unrestricted free agent. He has gone unsigned by all 32 teams in the following six years.
Kaepernick filed
Both players reached a settlement with the league in February 2019. Reid played two more seasons in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers in 2018 and 2019.
Kaepernick had a visit with the Seattle Seahawks in the spring of 2017. Head coach Pete Carroll told reporters at the time they passed on signing him because “he’s a starter in this league” and they couldn’t offer him playing time with Russell Wilson as their quarterback.
The Las Vegas Raiders brought in Kaepernick for a workout in May 2022. They were the first team to give him an official workout since he opted out of his deal with the 49ers.
Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels told reporters they brought in Kaepernick because they want to “look at every opportunity” to improve the team. He wound up leaving the workout without a deal.
Kaepernick, 35, has continued his activism while trying to resume his football career. He established the “Know Your Rights Camp” along with his partner, Nessa, in 2016. He started his own publishing company in March 2019 to promote and elevate new writers with diverse points of view.
