Steelers Make Interesting Colin Kaepernick Decision
The Steelers made an interesting Colin Kaepernick decision recently.
Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since 2016.
Last month, league officials organized a special workout for the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback at the Atlanta Falcons’ arena.
It was said that 20+ teams were set to show up. The workout was reportedly the league’s way of telling teams it was okay to get back into the Kaepernick business.
Unfortunately, on the day of the workout, Kaepernick called an audible.
Rather than go to the NFL’s arranged workout, he held one of his own 60 miles away. Only seven or eight teams ultimately ended up going to the new venue.
A huge thank you to all the people that made this happen in ATL. From our receivers @brice_butler, @BruceElling10, @TheJordanVeasy, @ariwerts – my trainer Josh Hidalgo, the educators at Charles Drew HS & so many more. Can’t thank everyone enough. We stay ready.🎥: @RAVisionMedia pic.twitter.com/2bwDjtlstN
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) November 25, 2019
Kaepernick is said to have made the location switch due to a disagreement with the league over liability waivers.
The move clearly did him no favors, regardless of who was at fault in the situation.
Kaepernick has not gotten a single call from NFL teams since the workout.
Recently XFL commission Oliver Luck did an interview with the Tampa Bay Times where he described his protectiveness of league quarterbacks. He insisted that he would not allow the NFL to simply come in and poach their passers.
One example he gave was the Steelers, who called him twice to inquire about quarterbacks.
“This happened to Landry Jones,” Luck said. “Ben Roethlisberger got hurt, and Landry had backed up Ben for years. First phone call was, ‘Can Landry come to the Steelers?’ ‘Nope, sorry. He’s ours. We signed him.’
“It even happened with Phillip Walker, who’s now with the Houston Roughnecks. The same team, the Steelers, called and said, ‘We’d like to have Phillip for a week because we’re playing the Ravens and Phillip’s a little bit like Lamar Jackson.
“We’ll sign him to a one-week contract so we can get accustomed to that kind of quarterback.’ We said, ‘Thanks for the compliment, but we’re not going to let him go.'”
While the inner workings of the XFL’s relationship with the NFL is interesting, that is not the main takeaway from this story.
The main takeaway is the fact that when Pittsburgh needed a quarterback, on two separate occasions they went for options not named “Colin Kaepernick.”
They literally inquired about someone named Phillip Walker, who most fans have never even heard of, before a guy who almost led the Niners to a championship.
If that does not speak to how toxic the perception of Kaepernick around the league is, nothing will.
Will Kaepernick ultimately get another shot at the NFL? It is tough to say. But with every passing day, the odds of it happening become less and less likely.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
