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It’s been over 1,000 days since Colin Kaepernick played in an NFL game, and despite doing everything in his power to stage a comeback, the quarterback has been unable to find a home in the league since finding himself at the center of controversy for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
However, on Tuesday, things took an interesting turn when we learned the NFL will be inviting teams to visit a private workout in Atlanta on Saturday where Kaepernick will have the chance to show off his skills in the hopes of finding a spot on a roster.
While at least one NFL source has labeled the showcase a sham, it appears there are multiple teams—including the Cowboys—who have expressed interest in attending, and while there’s no guarantee anything will come from it, it seems like this is the best (and perhaps final) shot Kaepernick will have on making his grand return.
When you consider the length of his absence, you kind of have to wonder why the NFL decided that this was the time to give the QB a chance to prove he belongs in the league when they could have done so at any point in the previous three years.
Now, according to Pro Football Talk, Adam Schefter has shined some light on the situation by reporting Roger Goodell may have been guilted into giving Kap the opportunity.
Here what the ESPN analyst had to say:
“I think Roger Goodell, there’s a part of him, the Commissioner, that feels bad about the way that this has unfolded. And I think that he believes that he must do his part to try to get a workout for Colin Kaepernick, to try to get interviews with Colin Kaepernick, to try to do his part to get Colin Kaepernick in front of teams…
This is the league office stepping in to try to make sure that Colin Kaepernick…has a chance to show to teams what he can’t do, what he can do, what his level of interest is in returning, how much he’d like to be back in football.
And, again, the NFL can’t make a team sign him I don’t think, but it can arrange something like this that really turns into Colin Kaepernick’s Pro Day.”
Pro Football Talk also noted Dan Patrick spoke to a source that can back up Schefter’s claim so it appears there’s some veracity to it despite there being no explanation as to what the tipping point really was.
All I can say is it’s about damn time.