Omar Kelly: NFL shouldn’t let window close on Colin Kaepernick’s playing career without giving QB another shot

WESTON, Fla. — The quarterback rolls out to his right, avoiding the rush for the would-be edge rusher, and hurls the ball 65-yards in the air.

The pass he launches with a flick of the wrist just misses the outstretched arms of Montreal Alouettes receiver Fabian Guerra Jr. and hits the Tequesta Trace Park field gate in the back of the end zone.

Colin Kaepernick slaps his hands together in disappointment, as if he had just missed a game-winning touchdown pass.

It was his final day of on-field work with South Florida professional athletes, and as someone who witnessed the workouts of the former San Francisco 49ers starter, if Kaepernick weren’t being blackballed by the NFL — which settled a lawsuit he and former safety Eric Reid had against the league alleging they collude to keep him out of the NFL — he would still be in the league.

And Kaepernick might still be a starter too.

The athleticism he used to lead the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII was still there.

His arm was so impressive the consistent complaint from receivers like Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, Jakeem Grant, Brandon Marshall and Chad Ochocinco was that he needed to take a little heat off his throws.

I left my interaction with Kaepernick, 34, wondering why Geno Smith, Colt McCoy, Brian Hoyer, and Mike Glennon, the usual cast of NFL backups, can easily find work but a talent who has led a team to the Super Bowl can’t?

Is it because of the potential controversy that would come from signing a player whose act of kneeling during the playing of a national anthem to create awareness to social justice issues in America would generate?

Shouldn’t that divisiveness have went away after the NFL changed its tune on football taking a stand for social justice following the brutal deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, which led to protests across America during the summer of 2020?

Or is the messenger more troublesome than the message?

“You have End Racism in the back of your end zone. You have Black Lives Matter on your helmet. Everything I’ve said should be in alignment with what you’re saying publicly,” Kaepernick told the I Am Athlete podcast when asked about being a potential distraction to a team that could potentially sign him. “[The NFL’s] a $16 billion business. When I first took a knee, my jersey went to No. 1. When I did the deal with Nike, their value increased by six billion dollars. Six billion. With a B.

“So if you’re talking about the business side, it shows [it’s] beneficial,” Kaepernick continued. “If you’re talking about the playing side, let me come in, let me compete. You can evaluate me from there. The NFL’s supposed to be a meritocracy. Come in, let me compete. If I’m not good enough, get rid of me. But let me come in and show you.”

That is Kaepernick’s sales pitch to NFL teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, the Washington Commanders, teams that all need quarterback help heading into next week’s NFL draft.

Those are franchises that have all likely debated whether or not to acquire Baker Mayfield and his fully guaranteed $19 million salary from the Cleveland Browns. Why waste $19 million on a disgruntled former No. 1 pick when they could just kick Kaepernick’s tires for a fraction of the cost?

If you’re Seattle coach Pete Carroll and you once debated signing Kaepernick in 2017, and you’re searching for a new starter for the Seahawks, why not offer Kaepernick a one-year deal for the NFL minimum salary of $1 million to see what he still has to offer.

Kaepernick flat out said he’d accept it.

At this point Kaepernick realizes he’s got nothing to lose by making a direct pitch to NFL teams.

“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. … More than anything, we’re just looking for a chance to walk through a door. I’ll handle the rest from there.”

If the NFL wants to legitimately claim they aren’t, or weren’t blackballing Kaepernick, and that they’ve changed their tune on social justice issues, why not encourage teams to grant the man who sacrificed his career — and roughly $100 million in career earnings — a workout.

Why not offer an opportunity to potentially end his playing career on his own terms, competing to see if he can knock off five years of rust.

Kaepernick never asked to be the face of the social justice movement. What he is asking for now is an opportunity to earn a spot on an NFL roster.

For everything Kaepernick’s endured, after five years of silence while working behind the scenes to change lives, he deserves that chance.