Colin Kaepernick hasn’t been in the news much lately, but he’s still working out and staying in shape in case an NFL team comes calling. He posted a video to his social media channels on Monday to remind everyone that it has been 1,363 days since an NFL team employed him, but he’s still ready to go if a team needs him.
1,363 days of being denied employment.
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) November 23, 2020
Still putting in work with @E_Reid35
Still going hard 5 days a week. #StillReady#StopRunning pic.twitter.com/iMeJ03IRuB
After the killing of George Floyd in May and the subsequent protests that swept the nation and the world, it felt like there was momentum behind Kaepernick rejoining the league. The NFL was paying attention to social justice issues — the very issues he wanted to highlight when he knelt during the national anthem in 2016 — and commissioner Roger Goodell even addressed the Kaepernick situation.
Since then, as Kaepernick’s video points out, nothing has happened. He’s still practicing with Eric Reid, who also knelt during the anthem and is also currently out of a job, and still waiting for an NFL team to give him a chance.
Why tweet that this week?
Why did Kaepernick tweet that on Monday of all days? He didn’t reveal the answer, and the video he posted didn’t give any clues. Recent NFL news could explain why. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is out for the season after injuring his knee on Sunday, and he’s likely to be replaced by untested backup QB Ryan Finley.
Despite not playing in the NFL for 1,363 days, Kaepernick still has more NFL experience than Finley. He’s still working out every day, and he still wants to play. He just needs a team to give him a chance.
However, it just doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. The NFL may allow protesting during the anthem, they may paint “Black Lives Matter” in the end zone, they may pay lip service to social justice and racial equality, but it appears that very little has actually changed for Kaepernick.
Team owners can’t seem to get past Kaepernick for daring to use his platform as an athlete to bring attention to police brutality and racial inequality. Not even if it would make their team better.