Colin Kaepernick Says He Still Works Out 5-6 Days A Week Waiting For Another Shot In The NFL

Colin Kaepernick is 35 years old and last played in the NFL in 2016. Pretty sure it's been too long for him to make any sort of realistic comeback now. While you can argue that the lack of wear and tear he's taken in the intervening years hasn't aged him, I can't fathom how rusty he'd be. There's no way you could justify starting him in the first year he joined the team unless you wanted to tank and trot him out as some sacrificial lamb, which would cheapen the acquisition of him in the first place.

With how much the modern game has shifted to dual-threat quarterbacks, Kaepernick would honestly have fit in better to the current pro football landscape than he did during his best years with the San Francisco 49ers. He ran a very traditional, old-school West Coast offense under Jim Harbaugh, with some designed QB runs to take advantage of his unique rushing ability.

Last year Kaepernick got a workout from the Las Vegas Raiders, who didn't end up signing him. That was the only audition that came from his throwing session at Michigan's spring game several months prior to that. to have a sort of pro day throwing session, courtesy of the Wolverines' coach Harbaugh. 

NFL legend Warren Sapp contended that Kaepernick's Raiders workout was a "disaster." The ex-49ers signal-caller painted quite a different picture in this Sports Illustrated piece by Gilberto Manzano:

"I’m going to keep pushing. 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.'

"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, 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."

Hmmmmmmmm. Also, he threw some shade at Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens. Not gonna lie. I chuckled a little.

"I’ve heard a lot of excuses over the years…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 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.'"

Is he wrong!? What the fuck have Stidham and Mullens ever done in the NFL that's of note at all? Stidham played better in 2022 than I ever expected him to. But still. We're talking about a guy in Kaepernick who led two San Francisco teams to the NFC Championship Game, and was one Ravens goal line stand away from being a Super Bowl champion. Kaepernick owns the single-game rushing record for a QB (181) and most rushing yards by a QB in a single postseason (264).

Neither here nor there. Reality is, again, he hasn't played in the NFL since 2016. I don't care who you are, how good you are, or how talented you are. That's a lot to overcome.

Don't worry. Not even gonna touch the political stuff in this Kaepernick blog. We all know what that's all about. No NFL owner wants to take on the headache/media circus that'd come along with Kaepernick signing, not to mention the inevitable backlash from fans. Those are the main reasons he was out of the league in the first place. Now? I find it hard to believe he'd do any better than QB3 status given how long it's been since he played.

Unless he goes to the USFL or XFL to get some professional reps under his belt, I don't see a path for Kaepernick to return, no matter how hard he works out and trains on his own. Watching the likes of Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and other dual-threat studs ball out has to sting quite a bit for Kaep, though.

Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok