It has been reported that free-agent Colin Kaepernick was spotted in Las Vegas working out with the Raiders. Kaepernick’s workout took place in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Although this tip was anonymous, ESPN first reported that Kaepernick, 34, was scheduled to work out with the team.
The workout is Kaepernick’s first with an NFL team since his time out of the league began following the 2016 season. That year, he started kneeling during the national anthem before games as a way of protesting police brutality and racial inequality. He later filed a collusion grievance against the NFL, alleging that its owners were conspiring to keep him out of the league. He and former teammate Eric Reid settled their respective grievances.
Kaepernick told a Detroit television station that he was just looking “for an opportunity, for a door to open” with an NFL team.
“(I) can still get out there, sling it,” Kaepernick told WXYZ Channel 7. “Really, getting out here today for the exhibition was to be able to show that I can do that. Because one of the questions that my agent kept getting was, ‘Well it’s been 5 years, can he still play?’ We wanted to make sure that we come out, we show everyone that I can still play, still throw it.”
In an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area late last month, Raiders owner Mark Davis said Kaepernick “deserves every chance in the world to become a quarterback in the National Football League.” Davis continued, “If our coaches and general manager want to bring him in or want him to be the quarterback on this team, I would welcome him with open arms.”
A second-round draft pick out of Nevada, Kaepernick started 58 games for the 49ers from 2011 to 2016 and helped lead them to the Super Bowl during the 2012 season. He’s thrown for more than 12,000 yards throughout his NFL career, with 72 touchdown passes to his name.
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