Colin Kaepernick training with Las Vegas Raiders as he targets NFL comeback
Colin Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since 2016; quarterback works out with Las Vegas Raiders as he pushes for comeback; 34-year-old recently said that he still wants to win championships: "I wholeheartedly believe I'm going to make that happen"
Last Updated: 26/05/22 12:07am
Colin Kaepernick is training with the Las Vegas Raiders as he continues his push for an NFL comeback.
The news was reported by ESPN with the NFL Network then saying that Kapernick's workout would take place on Wednesday.
The quarterback protested against racial injustice by taking a knee during the national anthem before San Francisco 49ers' games in 2016 and has not played professionally since the end of that season.
Kaepernick has been actively training through the offseason and threw in front of scouts at half-time of Michigan's spring game.
The 34-year-old said last month that he was willing to accept a backup quarterback role - but that he had the desire to eventually become first choice.
He told the I Am Athlete podcast: "I know I have to find my way back in. So, yeah, if I have to come back in as a backup, that's fine - but that's not where I'm staying.
"When I prove that I'm a starter, I wanna be able to step on the field as such. I just need that opportunity to walk through the door.
"I think more than anything it's a passion. Like, you have those dreams from when you're a kid. Like, I'm going to be an NFL player and I'm going to win a Super Bowl.
"For me, I have unfinished business on that front. I've been to the Super Bowl; we were one play away. Well, I need to finish that. My mentality isn't just to go out and compete.
"No, I want to win a championship. And I know that it may take different paths to get there, but I wholeheartedly believe I'm going to make that happen."
In 2016, then-US president Donald Trump called on the NFL to fire any player that did not stand for the anthem as small groups began to follow Kaepernick's lead by kneeling.
The NFL also initially introduced fines for those that did not stand, as well as a policy allowing players who did not want to stand to stay in the locker room for the anthem.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted in August 2020 that he wished the league had listened to Kaepernick sooner and urged teams to give him another chance to play.
Goodell told ESPN at the time: "If he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it's gonna take a team to make that decision. But I welcome that, support a club making that decision, and encourage them to do that."
Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL in 2017 claiming collusion as no teams signed him after he parted ways with the 49ers, eventually settling with the league in 2019.
