Colin Kaepernick says he'll make sure being 'held out' of NFL is reason why he's not in it

Colin Kaepernick told NPR he still missed football after being out of the league for nearly eight years and will "continue to train for it."

Oct 2, 2024 - 23:00
Colin Kaepernick says he'll make sure being 'held out' of NFL is reason why he's not in it

Colin Kaepernick still has hope of returning to the NFL.

The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback-turned-activist has not seen any professional football action since Jan. 1, 2017, against the Seattle Seahawks. Since then, he’s had a few workouts with teams but has never found a landing spot.

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Kaepernick has also built up his social activist platform through Know Your Rights Camp and Kaepernick Publishing. He has compared the NFL Draft to a slave auction, called for the abolition of law enforcement and suggested the NFL has not taken meaningful steps to address social injustices.

He admitted to NPR on Tuesday that he misses football and is still training in case a team calls.

"I will forever miss it," he told the outlet while promoting his new children’s book "We Are Free You & Me." "And I continue to train for it.

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"At the end of the day, I don't want to be in a position where I look back and have to question whether or not I gave it my all to try to pursue that. I will make sure that the reason I'm not playing is not because of my work ethic or commitment, but because I was held out of it."

Kaepernick told Sky Sports he still believed he could lead a team to a Super Bowl.

"We're still training, still pushing," he said. "So hopefully. We've just got to get one of these team owners to open up.

"It's something I've trained my whole life for, so to be able to step back on the field, I think that would be a major moment, a major accomplishment for me. I think I could bring a lot to a team and help them win a championship."

Kaepernick has 12,271 passing yards and 72 passing touchdowns along with 2,300 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns.

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