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Whether you want to believe that Colin Kaepernick has been blackballed by NFL teams or not, one thing that’s definitely true is that, given the paltry play of some backup quarterbacks in the league, the former San Francisco 49ers signal-caller should at least get a tryout. Well, at least that’s according to a new NFL players survey, which showed a helluva lot of current players on NFL teams believing that Kaep is getting a bad rap.
The player survey, which was conducted by The Athletic and polled 85 defensive players from 25 different NFL teams, revealed that a whopping 95 percent of the NFL players polled believe that Colin Kaepernick should still be in the league right now. That may not just be surprising, it’s actually kind of shocking, regardless of opinion of Kaepernick’s silent protest of kneeling during the national anthem.
But, that’s not all, because the survey also showed an anonymous player who said that he’d have Colin Kaepernick replace “25 percent of the league,” of quarterbacks. Talk about some respect and/or support from NFL players, huh?
Here are some of the quarterbacks who the defensive players mentioned by name as people Colin Kaepernick could (or should) replace, per Bleacher Report.
Jacksonville Jaguars signal-caller Blake Bortles was the top choice at 20 percent, and former Buffalo Bills quarterback Nathan Peterman was second with 18 percent of the vote.
Several other quarterbacks received at least one vote, including Eli Manning of the New York Giants and Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Another player expressed his belief that there should be plenty of opportunities for Kaepernick to be part of an NFL roster regardless of his role: “S–t, any team that carries three quarterbacks for sure, the third guy on that roster. And a majority of the teams with two quarterbacks, he should be the backup. And some places he should be the starter.”
Colin Kaepernick, who filed a collusion grievance against the NFL last year, hasn’t played since 2016, when he threw 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions for 2,241 yards in 12 starts for the San Francisco 49ers. But, given his previous success while on an NFL team — which included a trip to the Super Bowl with the Niners during the 2012 season — it seems as if nearly all of his peers believe the 31-year-old is still a viable option under center, even if it’s in a backup role.