Kaepernick still trying to get back in the NFL; otherwise maybe flag football in the Olympics

First there was a story from Sky Sports that Colin Kaepernick is training again with hopes of returning to the NFL again. Then there was a story from NBC 10 in Philadelphia that Kaepernick wants to play flag football for Team USA in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Well, they’re not necessarily mutually exclusive. And in either case, Kaepernick would play quarterback.

Which, with particular effectiveness, he did as a starter for the San Francisco 49ers, even making it to Super Bowl XLVII under coach Jim Harbaugh where they lost, 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens, coached by Jim’s brother, John.

Since then, Jim has moved on, first to the U. of Michigan, where he won a national championship, and now to the Los Angeles Chargers. Kaepernick also tried to move on, but, we’re told, on the advice of his girlfriend, he took a stand against racism by not standing to the national anthem and also becoming vocal before games during the 2016 season, then opted out of his contract with the 49ers the following offseason. He never landed on another team.

Pro football executives have enough problems with people who miss tackles or won’t sign contracts, so whatever their political beliefs—and most are conservative—they tend to avoid players who make headlines for reasons other than making yards or making tackles—and Kaepernick remained unsigned. In October 2017, Kaepernick filed a collusion grievance against the NFL. He and the league reached an agreement to resolve the grievance in February 2019.

Maybe part of the reason is while Kaepernick is a great athlete—he set a record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback in the playoffs against Green Bay—he’s not a great passing quarterback. In that Super Bowl loss to the Ravens, he had a short pass into the end zone and fired it like a missile, using strength not touch.

That said he surely was better than many of the quarterbacks in pro football. Despite denials, the owners were reluctant to give him the opportunity because of the off-field issues.

While it’s fine to pound the opposing linemen, players are discouraged from rocking the boat.  

Kaepernick is 36 now, and while that’s still younger than Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets, Rodgers has a mammoth contract and numerous MVP awards. Kaepernick is unsigned and has been inactive for the past seven years.

However, it hasn’t dimmed his determination to return.

“It’s something I’ve trained my whole life for," he told Sky Sports, "so to be able to step back on the field, I think that would be a major moment, major accomplishment for me."

The probability is his NFL career is finished, although there might be a desperate team.

Otherwise, there’s the flag football opportunity in the Los Angeles Olympics, in 2028. It’s not the big time, but it’s a chance to get on a gridiron once more.