Its been three long seasons that talented quarterback Colin Kaepernick, 32, has gone without being hired by an NFL team, but that could be changing. He was labelled a controversial distraction by some league higher-ups after he began taking a knee during the National Anthem in his 2016 season with the San Francisco 49ers. He did it to peacefully protest police brutality against Black Americans. Following George Floyd‘s May 25, 2020 horrifying police custody death and the protests that have flooded the streets of America, he proved to be on the right side of history. Now some owners would like to give him a chance in the NFL again.
“The last few weeks have been a big wake up call for many people who are decision-makers in the NFL and some owners have looked at the situation with Colin in a whole different light. They actually now feel that they would like to right a wrong and potentially work with him,” a source tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. Colin entered free agency in 2017 after leaving the 49ers, and no NFL team has shown interest in him since then.
“So discussions have intensified to see if he would be a good fit to be offered a chance to join the team or not. In the darkness of tragedy, it appears some good might actually come from it within the league,” the insider continues. Colin’s trailblazing peaceful racial justice protests are finally being recognized by the NFL as important. On June 5, the league’s commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement and video that was a long time in coming.
He said, “We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter.” What Goodell didn’t do was acknowledge or apologize to Colin, causing “Apologize to Kaepernick” to shoot to the top of Twitter’s U.S. trends.
We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter. #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/ENWQP8A0sv
— NFL (@NFL) June 5, 2020
“Teams have had the discussion of giving Colin a chance to compete for a QB position on their squad, but there are so many variables to still occur that it might take some time for any forward progress to even happen,” our insider continues. “The wounds of George Floyd are still so fresh that everyone involved wants to make this whole situation something special and not just a publicity stunt.”
“For one, teams can’t have workouts or practices with their current player’s thanks to the Coronavirus. The season to actually be played is expected, but not confirmed, which throws another wrench into negotiations and when it comes to contracts, salary caps, and team unity. That all plays a part in decisions from an owner’s perspective to bring Colin onto a team,” the source explains.
“Plus would he want to play with the certain teams that are interested? There are more questions than answers right now, but at least now teams are asking those questions and considering bringing Colin in. Whereas close to two weeks ago that really wasn’t the case at all. There is now at least hope that Colin will be given a chance,” our insider says. With Goodell’s statement that now encourages kneeling and other forms of peaceful protests, hopefully teams will see that it is time to give Colin another chance in the league.