Colin Kaepernick is still without a job in the NFL, and it has people wondering why. Is he simply unsigned, or is he being blackballed because he’s unwanted by NFL teams and front offices?
Kaepernick is one of the top free-agent quarterbacks on the market, but the man who stirred up controversy last season by kneeling during the national anthem in protest of what he sees as racial injustice in the U.S. is still sitting at home waiting for a call from one of the league’s 32 teams, according to Fox Sports.
Kaepernick, who has said he will stand for the anthem next season, has been with the San Francisco 49ers since he was drafted into the NFL in 2011, but the team’s new head coach, Kyle Shanahan, apparently didn’t want him.
“Colin’s had a great career, and he’s done some really good things,” Shanahan said Wednesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “I think Colin has a certain skill-set that you can put a specific offense to it that he can be very successful in.”
“When we first looked at it…that wasn’t necessarily the direction I wanted to go,” he added. “The type of offense I wanted to run was somewhat different and that’s why we went that type of direction.”
The Niners went 2-14 last season, which is likely part of the reason they haven’t signed Kaepernick or any other one of its quarterbacks from last year.
However, there are those who feel there’s more to the story — people who strongly believe Kaepernick’s political stance last season ultimately cost him his job.
Kaepernick’s former teammate Torrey Smith took to Twitter to address the issue.
Perhaps we’ll never know why Kaepernick is still waiting by the phone, but he has a lot left in the tank, which could be beneficial for some NFL teams, according to The Guardian.
At 29 years of age with a healthy body, a strong throwing arm, and the ability to run, Kaepernick "absolutely should have a job in the NFL," Les Carpenter wrote in The Guardian.
"So much of the perception of him has been clouded by the reaction to his refusal to stand for the national anthem last season that it’s hard to know what the league really thinks of Kaepernick as a quarterback," Carpenter went on to say.
Torrey Smith wasn’t the only one who chimed in on the debate surrounding Kaepernick via Twitter.
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