Credit: Flickr/ Brecht BugControversial former pro football star and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick wants back in the National Football League, and he seems ready to plead for it.
Colin Kaepernick became an unlikely center of culture in 2016 when he began first sitting, then kneeling, during the traditional U.S. National anthem before NFL games. At the time, Kaepernick was the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers and had an up-and-down professional career that had seen him lose the position, regain it, and bring his team to the Super Bowl for the first time in nearly two decades.
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When Colin Kaepernick made his starting debut with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 (taking over for first-round pick Alex Smith after a concussion), he managed to bring the team to the Super Bowl, and though they ultimately barely lost to the Baltimore Ravens, it seemed as though the quarterback had a bright career ahead of him.
However, Colin Kaepernick’s NFL career was not as simple or rosy as that. By 2015, he had received a severe shoulder injury that required surgery and was out for the remainder of the season; he began expressing interest in being traded, which is rarely a sign of satisfaction.
Then, in 2016, he began protesting racial inequality and police brutality in the United States by symbolically kneeling during the national anthem and immediately became the center of a firestorm of controversy.
Although public political protest is an American tradition, NFL fans, owners, and even other players swiftly turned against Colin Kaepernick. He was described as disrespectful to U.S. veterans and “ungrateful” for his position as a pro athlete. Then-President Donald Trump even obliquely referred to the player during a rally, saying, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you’d say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired.”
In 2017, Colin Kaepernick became a free agent but was not picked up by any teams, leading him to file a grievance against the NFL in which he alleged that team owners were colluding to prevent him from playing football professionally, essentially blackballing him for his political statements.
In 2019, Colin Kaepernick and fellow NFL protestor Eric Reid reached confidential settlements with the NFL. Kaepernick has not played professional football since, even after brief discussions with Dwayne Johnson’s XFL.
However, rapper J. Cole (a personal friend of the athlete’s) recently made an Instagram post revealing that Kaepernick had personally sent a letter to the New York Jets, asking to join their practice squad and making the case that he can help the team after Aaron Rodgers recently suffered an Achilles injury.
J. Cole has released Colin Kaepernick's letter to the Jets requesting to join their practice squad 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Kjn3af3u9G
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 26, 2023
According to J. Cole, he asked permission to post the letter, which Colin Kaepernick was initially reluctant to give. Cole’s caption read in part, “I asked Colin @kaepernick7 if I could share this letter with the world. He was reluctant. My argument was that I believe the people and all organizations should know the truth about how hard he works and how much he still wants to play. And always has. In the end, he agreed to let me.”
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Among other things, Colin Kaepernick’s letter (which is dated September 21, 2023) states that he has “heard that the back-up spot is likely to be filled by a veteran Quarterback. As much as I would love the opportunity to fill that spot, I’m writing you in hopes that you can imagine a much different approach involving me; I would be honored and extremely grateful for the opportunity to come in and lead the practice squad.”
Essentially, the athlete is asking for the opportunity to rejoin the NFL in any playing capacity after years of controversy and legal wrangling. The New York Jets have not yet made an official statement about the letter, but it raises the intriguing possibility that he might actually be back in action soon.
Should the Jets take on Colin Kaepernick? Will the NFL shun him forever? Let us know your thoughts below!