Colin Kaepernick is holding his head high and remaining optimistic during this NFL free agent signing period. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback says he has been training since January of last year hoping for another chance at NFL stardom.
Kaepernick has been training with Josh Hidalgo, the Head of Sports Performance at The Sports Center NYC William Paterson University according to his Instagram. Hidalgo originally posted the videos of Kaep training. The first video shows the 30-year-old QB doing some throwing drills and in the second video, some weight lifting.
“I’ve been training @kaepernick7 everyday and to say he’s dedicated is an understatement,” Hidalgo said on Instagram.
The one-time Super Bowl quarterback went unsigned for the entire 2017-2018 season in what many fans thought was a move by NFL owners to blackball Kaep. Two seasons ago, Kaepernick was the center of attention when he protested against police brutality by kneeling during the National Anthem.
In what contractually was his last season with the 49ers, the activist QB became a free agent in a league full of owners who did not support his protest and felt that his talent was overshadowed by the controversy.
During his one-year hiatus, Kaepernick got more involved in minority communities donating suits to former prisoners and more recently did a $1 million pledge where he donated $10,000 a day to different organizations. This effort attracted superstar talent like Kevin Durant, Serena Williams and Stephen Curry to match Kaep’s donations.
The man who President Trump called a “son of a bitch” during a rally in Alabama was also GQ’s Citizen of the Year for 2017 for his extensive advocacy in the community, really living up to what his protests were about. Kaep’s stance on these issues also emboldened many other athletes across the league and outside of the NFL to “stand with Kap.”
In a season that was riddled with injuries to starting quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Sam Bradford, and Carson Wentz to a name a few, Kaepernick was overlooked by owners despite his outstanding resume which further raised concerns that he was in fact being blackballed.
Should Kaepernick find a team to call home this year, it will surely generate a new fan base to the signing team as well as some harsh criticism from NFL fans against Kaepernick’s protest.
