Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is receiving special treatment from the football organization this weekend.
The NFL has organized a private workout for the famed anthem-kneeler on Saturday in Atlanta, and all NFL teams have been invited, a memo obtained by ESPN has revealed. The point of the workout is to help Kaepernick secure a position on one of the teams.
“The NFL arranged this workout opportunity for Colin Kaepernick, and teams will have the opportunity to evaluate his readiness and level of interest in resuming his NFL career,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “His agents have said he wants to return to the NFL, and the league hopes this provides that chance.”
The NFL arranged this workout opportunity for Colin Kaepernick, and teams will have the opportunity to evaluate his readiness and level of interest in resuming his NFL career. His agents have said he wants to return to the NFL, and the league hopes this provides that chance.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 12, 2019
Teams were made aware of the workout on Tuesday. “The session will include on-field work and an interview,” ESPN reported. “All teams are invited to attend, and video of both the workout and the interview will be made available to them.”
According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, the workout was set up in part as a “response to a statement by Kaepernick’s representatives sent Oct. 10 saying they had received ‘little to no response‘ from all 32 NFL teams.”
“Earlier this year, we discussed some possible steps with his representatives and they recently emphasized his level of preparation and that he is ready to work out for clubs and be interviewed by them,” the memo from the NFL reads. “We have therefore arranged this opportunity for him to work out, and for all clubs to have the opportunity to evaluate his current readiness and level of interest in resuming his NFL career.”
On Tuesday night, Kaepernick confirmed the workout: “I’m just getting word from my representatives that the NFL league office reached out to them about a workout in Atlanta on Saturday. I’ve been in shape and ready for this for 3 years, can’t wait to see the head coaches and GMs on Saturday,” he wrote.
I’m just getting word from my representatives that the NFL league office reached out to them about a workout in Atlanta on Saturday. I’ve been in shape and ready for this for 3 years, can’t wait to see the head coaches and GMs on Saturday.
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) November 13, 2019
While playing for the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick began protesting the national anthem “because America ‘oppresses’ minorities and allows its cops to ‘murder’ innocent people of color.”
“People of color have been targeted by police,” the athlete said in 2016, as reported by The Daily Wire. “So that’s a large part of it and they’re government officials. They are put in place by the government. So that’s something that this country has to change. There’s things we can do to hold them more accountable. Make those standards higher. You have people that practice law and are lawyers and go to school for eight years, but you can become a cop in six months and don’t have to have the same amount of training as a cosmetologist.”
Kaepernick also sported socks at practice in 2016 that depicted police officers as pigs.
“I wore these socks, in the past, because the rogue cops that are allowed to hold positions in police departments, not only put the community in danger, but also put the cops that have the right intentions in danger by creating an environment of tension and mistrust,” Kaepernick wrote in defending the “pig cops” socks on Instagram.