Getty Colin Kaepernick (right) next to Jim Harbaugh during Michigan spring game on April 2, 2022.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has spoken out about his much publicized workout with the Las Vegas Raiders back in May 2022. The former $114 million franchise quarterback didn’t mince words regarding his personal feelings toward the Silver and Black.
Speaking with Gilberto Manzano of Sports Illustrated on Friday, June 30, the quarterback — who’s been out of the league for six years — revealed his reasons for criticizing the franchise in his first comments since the private workout session.
“I’ve heard a lot of excuses over the years,” Kaepernick stated, “but most of the time it ends up, ‘Oh, we’re going to see how the guys that we have do.’ With the Raiders’ situation last year, that was [Jarrett] Stidham and Nick Mullens, which to me, you just compare résumés and capabilities, on top of the workout and the feedback, it’s like, ‘O.K., cool.’”
Kaepernick dove further with believing there was something deeper regarding why the Raiders passed on handing him a contract.
“Obviously, there’s something else within this decision. To me, that’s typically what it ends up being, or has been for the last seven years. So, I just want the opportunity to come in, show what I can do on the field. Judge me based upon that, not the political bias that you have,”
Kaepernick Says People ‘May Have Forgotten What I Was Capable of’
Kaepernick was 34 at the time of his Raiders workout. Beforehand, there were questions of whether or not Kaepernick had rust in his right arm after not throwing in front of an NFL team since his last season with the 49ers in 2016.
Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer reported on May 30, 2022 that his workout went well.
“I’d say the door is being left open for a deal, but it probably won’t happen right now. The workout itself went well. He didn’t blow everyone away or anything like that. But he showed he was in shape, and that his arm strength is still intact, even at 34 years old and after five seasons out of the league,” Breer wrote. The insider added how Raiders owner Mark Davis was a longtime advocate of Kaepernick — further fueling the speculation the Raiders would bring him in.
However, Kaepernick traced back to that session and believed he had to remind people of his traits as a passer.
“When I had my workout with the Raiders last year, even training with guys, there’s a decent amount of people who may have forgotten what I was capable of doing on the field,” Kaepernick said. “So any chance to be able to remind people of what I can do out there, I look forward to and embrace, and I look forward to the day that I get to step on the field and show people what I can do.”
Kaepernick’s Plan
Kaepernick hasn’t been offered any roster spots since he took a knee during the playing of the National Anthem in 2016, as a way to protest systematic inequality and police brutality.
He tells Manzano that he still trains five to six days out of the week and has thrown 60 yards or more during private workouts. But still, he remains unsigned and, at age 35, isn’t getting any younger.
Kaepernick, though, revealed his plan moving forward post-Raiders workout.
“I’m going to keep pushing,” Kaepernick said. “I’m going to keep fighting for it because I know I can step on the field and play. Every workout, every opportunity I’ve had to show that, the feedback has always been positive. Everything from, ‘He’s still an elite player,’ to ‘The workout was great; it was better than expected.’”