Colin Kaepernick is ready to get his second shot in the National Football League and he seems to have his sights set on the Seattle Seahawks.
Despite his own quarterback needs, Pete Carroll isn’t sure if his shot will come with the team. Carroll said Wednesday that Kaepernick contacted him recently and asked for a chance to try out for the team. Though Carroll said Kaepernick deserves a second chance in the league, he doesn’t “know if it’s here” in Seattle.
“I don’t know if it’s here. I don’t know where it is. I don’t know if it’s even in football. I don’t know,” Carroll said. “People get a second opportunity in their lifetime … and they can make the most of it if they’re ready for it. I don’t mean to send out any mixed messages about that. But I wanted you to understand that that’s how serious this is. It’s second chance time.”
Carroll was asked how realistic it is that Seattle would give Kaepernick a look.
“I don’t know, but he’s making a remarkable bid for it to sustain his conditioning for the four years he’s been out, going on five,” Carroll said. “Who knows? I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Kaepernick hasn’t played in the league since 2016, when he first started kneeling during the national anthem to protest social justice issues in the United States while he was on the San Francisco 49ers. Those protests drew heavy backlash that is still being felt today.
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Kaepernick’s protest essentially led to him being blackballed from the league. He filed a grievance against the NFL, along with former teammate Eric Reid, where he claimed that team owners colluded to keep him out due to the backlash from his protests. That matter got settled out of court.
The Seahawks officially traded longtime quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos on Wednesday, and now need a new starting quarterback.
Kaepernick may have the drive to make a return, but he has been out of the league too long to just step back in and take the starting position on any team.
