Colin Kaepernick Update: NBA Champion Reacts to QB’s NFL Workout

Getty Colin Kaepernick at workout.

Embattled NFL free agent quarterback, Colin Kaepernick worked out at Charles R. Drew High School in Riverdale, Georgia.

Colin Kaepernick has not played NFL football in three seasons. Three NFL preseasons ago, Kaepernick refused to stand during the playing of the National Anthem.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL network’s Steve Wyche during the NFL’s preseason three years ago.

One person that is happy that Kaepernick got a workout is former NBA player Craig Hodges.

“I think the pressure that social media put on it allowed this workout to happen,” Hodges told me by phone Saturday evening.

“He should get the chance. Hopefully not for media sake and I hope that it’s legit.”

It is believed that Hodges was blackballed by the NBA after he handed a letter to former U.S. President George H.W. Bush during the Bulls’ championship visit to the White House.

The contents of the letter, according to Hodges made President Bush aware of the mistreatment of poor people and people of color in the United States. “I did whatever I could to uplift the cause of our people man,” he said.

Two years ago on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, Hodges and I talked about Kaepernick. I asked him if he thought Kaepernick would play again. He told me no. “I don’t think he will play again in the NFL because out of sight out of mind,” Hodges told Scoop B Radio.

“I’m pretty sure Colin Kaepernick isn’t going to take a knee anymore.

“There isn’t a need to take a knee anymore. I think now it’s just a matter of him wanting to play football. If he gets a chance to play football he is going to play football and do what he is capable of doing. Hopefully he gets that opportunity.”

This evening I asked Hodges whether he thought today’s workout would give Kaepernick another shot in the NFL. “I don’t put to much into it,” he told me.

“Who knows? It could be something that the NFL is doing to save face. He did the workout, we’ll see.

Hodges, an Illinois native, even predicted Kaepernick’s next move. “Chicago could sure use him,” he said.

It would be great for the city.

Worth noting: Initially, Kaepernick was supposed to workout at the Atlanta Falcons’ practice facility.

Plans changed. “We are disappointed that Colin did not appear for his workout,” said an official statement from the NFL.

“He informed us of that decision at 2:30 pm today along with the public. Today’s session was designed to give Colin what he has consistently said he wants – an opportunity to show his football readiness and desire to return to the NFL,”

“Twenty-five (25) clubs were present for the workout, and all 32 clubs, their head coaches, general managers, and other personnel executives would have received video footage of the interview and workout, shot by the Atlanta Falcons video crew.

The statement also said:

“The location Colin selected is more than an hour away from Flowery Branch. ​We are grateful to the Falcons, who made available the club’s first-class facility, along with athletic training, equipment, and communications staff to ensure that today’s workout would occur under ideal conditions, to coaches Hue Jackson and Joe Philbin, who were prepared to run a workout that would allow Colin to demonstrate his skill level, and to Jeff Foster and the Combine staff for arranging for other players to participate and for managing the logistics of the workout.”