Colin Kaepernick hasn’t wavered in his stance.
He says he “absolutely” wants to play in the NFL — “that’s without question” — and will even take a backup job if that’s what it takes to get signed. In a rare public interview, with former NFL players Brandon Marshall, Chad Johnson and Pacman Jones in the I AM ATHLETE podcast that published Monday, Kaepernick opened up on his status, on the work he has been putting in and his desire to win a Super Bowl.
“I know I have to find my way back in,” Kaepernick said. “So, yeah, if I have to come in as a backup, that fine. But that’s not where I’m staying and when I prove that I’m a starter, I want to be able to step on the field as such. I just need that opportunity to walk through the door.”
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh looks on as Colin Kaepernick passes during halftime at the Wolverines’ spring game at Michigan Stadium.
Kaepernick, 34, has been a free agent since the end of the 2016 season, the same year he started protesting police brutality and racial inequality by kneeling during the pre-game playing of the national anthem.
Kaepernick has maintained a low profile with media interviews since then, saying “in part it was a response to the situation” he was facing because he didn’t want to feed into the narrative that a team would face a “media circus” if it signed him. He has recently gone through workouts with current and former players, posting highlights and footage to his social media channels, in an attempt to show NFL teams he could still compete at a high level.
Recently, Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was Kaepernick’s coach with the 49ers from 2011-14, gave Kaepernick the chance to work out at the program’s spring game when Kaepernick was an honorary captain.
“So it was like, ‘OK, I’ll be quiet. I’ll do all my work behind the scenes, I’ll be prepared, and we’re going to continue to reach out to every team for a workout,’ ” Kaepernick said. “But as far as what’s been done publicly, I don’t…