It’s been well over a year since Colin Kaepernick last touched an NFL football field, as the outspoken proponent of civil rights and the player that led the way on players silently protesting by taking a knee during the national anthem as all but been blackballed from the league.
There’s a lawsuit currently in the works about that very issue between Kaepernick and the NFL, and what transpired on Thursday only figures to add more fuel to the fire (and further illustrate Kaepernick’s point).
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Seahawks had plans to bring Kaepernick in for a workout this week to see what he still had and if he’d make for a quality backup option to Russell Wilson. However, that workout was canceled after Kaepernick refused to promise Seattle he would not kneel for the anthem next season.
After arranging for Colin Kaepernick to work out for the Seahawks this week, Seattle postponed the trip when the quarterback declined to stop kneeling during the national anthem next season, league sources tell ESPN.
More ahead on NFL Live now.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 12, 2018
Considering most have pointed to Seattle as one of the league’s most progressive teams, this is both a disappointment but also not a shock. Progressive in the NFL is not exactly a high bar to clear, especially with the Bob McNair’s of the world owning teams elsewhere. For all of those that have claimed Kaepernick isn’t on a roster because he isn’t good enough, the refusal of Seattle to let him even workout over his stance on kneeling in protest of police violence against African-Americans is damning evidence that isn’t the case.
If Seattle let him workout and checked in on what he could do on the football field, they could use that cover for why they didn’t sign him, but instead they’ve chosen to take the worst possible route, if what Schefter reports is true.
But it may not be! The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has some differing information as to why the workout was “postponed.”
The #Seahawks did postpone a tentatively scheduled workout with Colin Kaepernick, as @AdamSchefter reported. It was not because he said he declined to stop kneeling, tho. The team asked for his plan moving forward on how to handle everything and there was not a firm plan.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 12, 2018
#Seahawks brass, John Schneider and Pete Carroll, want Colin Kaepernick to consider how he wants to proceed on everything (not just anthem) and get together at a later date when his plans are formed. Clearly, Seattle has accepted players speaking out for what they believe.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 12, 2018
I have no idea what “proceed with everything” will mean, but it’s pretty easy to tell whose sources come from what camp in this situation. We’ll have to wait and see how this all shakes out, but all we know is that the Seahawks had a workout scheduled with Kaepernick, and now that workout is on hold for some reason.
