Free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick says he has "unfinished enterprise" within the NFL and is ready to return again to the league as a backup quarterback if he has to. The activist stated in an interview on the "I AM ATHLETE" podcast launched Monday that he simply wants "the chance to stroll by way of the door."
"I do know I've to search out my manner again in," he stated. "Yeah, if I've to return in as a backup, that is superb. However that is not the place I am staying. And after I show that I am a starter, I need to have the ability to step on the sector as such."
Kaepernick has not been in a position to land a job with an NFL group since he started to take a knee to protest police brutality and racial injustice throughout the nationwide anthem as a member of the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. He final performed for the 49ers in 2017 and opted out of the contract, however was not signed wherever else. He labored out with the Seattle Seahawks later that 12 months, nevertheless, head coach Peter Carroll already had a starter with then-team quarterback Russell Wilson, who was traded to the Denver Broncos this low season.
"No groups introduced me for a exercise" he stated. "No groups introduced me in for a chance. The one assembly with Seattle in 2017. Out of that, Pete Carroll stated, 'He is our starter, we have now a starter.' Issues moved on from there. However they do not have a starter proper now."
The 34-year-old stated he is motivated to return again to the league to win a Tremendous Bowl, which he reached in 2013 with the 49ers, however misplaced towards the Baltimore Ravens.
"You had these goals from whenever you have been a child. 'I am [gonna] be an NFL participant and I will win a Tremendous Bowl.' And for me, I've unfinished enterprise on that entrance. I've been to the Tremendous Bowl. We have been one play away. Effectively, I want to complete that."
He dismissed considerations he could be a distraction, and primarily based on his previous jersey gross sales and Nike's $6 billion analysis after they signed him, he confused the enterprise finish of a group signing him "is sensible." He additionally introduced up the NFL's "Finish Racism" messages in finish zones and "Black Lives Matter" being worn on gamers' helmets, which fall in keeping with his activism.
"All the pieces I've stated must be in alignment with what you are saying publicly," he stated, referring to the NFL.
In a message to basic managers across the league, he stated to let him "are available and let me compete."
"The NFL is meant to be a meritocracy ... If I am not adequate, eliminate me. However let me are available and present you," he stated.
Whereas coaching for an NFL comeback, Kaepernick has been preserving busy. He wrote a youngsters's e book, "I Shade Myself Totally different" that was revealed this month, and his highschool years are the topic of a Netflix sequence known as "Colin in Black & White," which was launched final 12 months. He additionally launched an initiative earlier this 12 months by way of his Know Your Rights Camp that may provide free, secondary autopsies to relations of anybody whose demise is "police-related."