Despite his constant claims that he is ready to return to the National Football League, former second-string quarterback Colin Kaepernick admits he hasn’t watched football in eight years.
Kaepernick, who became infamous as the face of anti-American protests during the playing of the national anthem in 2016, has claimed that he is still in tip-top condition and is ready to return to the game at any time. However, he has refused several offers to do so.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback refused an offer to stay with the team for the 2017 season but quickly found that all the other teams were less than enthusiastic about signing him. Since 2017, he has been offered several opportunities, but he appears to have turned them all down as insufficient.
Yet, despite his claims that he is ready to rejoin the NFL, he has now admitted that he doesn’t even follow the game anymore.
For some reason, Kaepernick was invited to the Wall Street Journal Tech Conference in California, where he made his admission during a panel discussion. The disgraced NFL player appeared on the panel with Netflix chief Ted Sarandos, composer Hans Zimmer, and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
During the panel, Kaepernick was asked if he has watched the NFL lately. “I haven’t watched a game in 8 years,” he replied.
He went on to say that he does follow aspects of the game.
“Oh, I still check everybody’s stats. It also informs who my agent reaches out to, but I still check the stats. I see what’s going on. I don’t ever turn a game on, though, because I’m not gonna support in that way, but I need to keep my finger on the pulse of what’s happening with quarterbacks out there,” he said.
Kaepernick also repeated his oft-made claim that he is ready to play.
“I still wake up every morning and train. I’ve had to adjust my schedule a little bit, which, saying this out loud, sounds a little bizarre, but I get up at 3:30 a.m. and start my workday, and then I go do my training… I still train every day. I still train the way I was when I was playing, making sure that I’m ready at any given moment,” he told the conference.
L.A. Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh recently insisted that he had offered Kaepernick a coaching position, but the former quarterback refused. But Kaepernick says the story is not true.
Kaepernick added that he is not interested in coaching but that he is interested in joining Team USA for the Olympic flag football team.
Still, even as he claims he is ready to rejoin the NFL, he has also accused the league of running a “slave auction” when vetting and drafting players.
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