Yahoo Sports Colin Kaepernick Lands Workout with Las Vegas Raiders Following Discussion of NFL Return
Prince Williams/Wireimage Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick is one step closer to making a possible pro football return after landing his first workout with an NFL team in years.
On Wednesday, Kaepernick, 34 — the former quarterback who hasn't played in an NFL game since 2017 — worked out with the Las Vegas Raiders, according to league reports.
The workout comes just weeks after Raiders owner Mark Davis shared his support for Kaepernick's potential NFL return.
During a recent interview with NBC Sports for an episode of Race in America: A Candid Conversation, Davis, 66, admitted that, if it were up to him, he would welcome Kaepernick with "open arms" to his franchise.
"I believe in Colin Kaepernick," he said last month. "He deserves every chance in the world to become a quarterback in the National Football League. I still stand by it. If our coaches and general manager want to bring him in or want him to be the quarterback on this team, I would welcome him with open arms."
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However, he explained that all roster decisions for the Raiders remain in the hands of new General Manager Dave Ziegler and new Head Coach Josh McDaniels.
Davis then compared Kaepernick's NFL experience to Tommie Smith, the iconic sprinter who won gold in the 1968 Olympic Games and famously raised his fist on the podium alongside bronze medalist John Carlos in protest of racism in America.
"I think Colin is a very misunderstood human being," Davis continued. "I've gotten a chance to talk to him. I never really knew Colin, and I didn't understand him. I didn't understand the kneeling, what that meant initially. Over time, I have learned a little bit more about it."
He added, "I understand [now] where he was coming from. He's got a message for society as a whole."
Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Colin Kaepernick
During the 2016 season, Kaepernick began kneeling while the national anthem played at the beginning of each game to protest racial injustice, police brutality and systemic oppression. The year following his polarizing protests, Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Since then, he has remained unsigned by any NFL team.
Kaepernick and fellow athlete and protester Eric Reid filed grievances with the league in October 2017 that accused owners of colluding to prevent him from signing with a team. The pair settled with the league in February 2019.
Earlier this year, David Robinson, a trainer who has worked with Kaepernick, said that multiple NFL teams have reached out to him with interest in the former quarterback. He told TMZ that "at least" five NFL teams had sent inquiries in the wake of a training session he held with Kaepernick in March 2021.
