Fansided

Colin Kaepernick shouldn’t have needed to wait this long for a chance

By Matt Verderame

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 05: Colin Kaepernick receives the SI Muhammad Ali Legacy Award during SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 2017 Sportsperson of the Year Show on December 5, 2017 at Barclays Center in New York City. Tune in to NBCSN on December 8 at 8 p.m. ET or Univision Deportes Network on December 9 at 8 p.m. ET to watch the one hour SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Sportsperson of the Year special. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 05: Colin Kaepernick receives the SI Muhammad Ali Legacy Award during SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 2017 Sportsperson of the Year Show on December 5, 2017 at Barclays Center in New York City. Tune in to NBCSN on December 8 at 8 p.m. ET or Univision Deportes Network on December 9 at 8 p.m. ET to watch the one hour SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Sportsperson of the Year special. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated) /
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On Saturday, Colin Kaepernick will finally get a chance to work out in front of NFL teams, hoping to get back into the league after years of being an outcast.

Colin Kaepernick has 11 teams coming to his NFL-created workout on Saturday in Atlanta.

Eleven teams. This after not having a single workout since essentially being blackballed from the league following the 2016 season after kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality.

The interest, despite being the day before games for most teams, says plenty. It says even after idling for almost three seasons, Kaepernick’s talent is worth seeing once more. It also says teams have long known he’s an option worth exploring, but nobody had the guts to invite him into their building and deal with the ensuing scrutiny.

Let’s also be clear. Kaepernick is a starting-caliber quarterback. He’s also limited, and no contending team would feel good about him as their starter in the form we last witnessed him in. Both statements are true.

What’s also true is Kaepernick is clearly better than Mitchell Trubisky. He’s better than Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen. He’s better than Jameis Winston. He’s better than Ryan Tannehill and Marcus Mariota. He’s better than Andy Dalton and Ryan Finley.

For his career, Kaepernick has thrown for 72 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. He’s reached a Super Bowl and came within mere yards of a title. He also has a paltry 59.8 completion percentage and 7.3 yards per attempt. His record? 28-30.

And that’s where truth busts through the politically-ruled narratives.

Kaepernick isn’t special. He’s not, and never was, an elite talent. He was electrifying for a short while. Then he was exposed as an athletic quarterback who struggles to make accurate throws, especially on the intermediate level.

He’s also an upgrade for plenty of teams as a starter. He’s an upgrade for almost everybody as a backup. The arguments stating otherwise come from a place of his silent but powerful protests.

Some say Kaepernick is an ingrate. He doesn’t value the freedoms and riches this country has afforded him. Some say he’s a hero, a bastion of courage to fight police brutality against minorities in America.

The truth? That depends on your reality. On your America.

Here’s another dose of truth: Kaepernick should have an NFL job. If teams only care about winning — and so many justify criminal behavior to do so — a man exercising his first amendment rights, like or not, shouldn’t be a deterrent.

And, let’s be real. His actions aren’t the problem. Never were. Kaepernick hasn’t been a free agent for three years because he knelt. Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers could burn flags at the 50-yard line and they’d have a line of front-office apologists stretching for miles.

No, Kaepernick is unsigned because he had disposable talents and teams didn’t view him as worth the trouble of an uncomfortable news cycle. Even if that meant being slightly or significantly worse at the sport’s most important position.

On Saturday, Kaepernick will throw in Atlanta for 11 teams. Teams which should have summoned the fortitude to invite him in long ago.