Colin Kaepernick asks New York Jets if he can join practice squad
After losing Aaron Rodgers to a season-ending injury, Colin Kaepernick offered to be a practice squad quarterback for the New York Jets in a letter addressed to a team official.
As the Jets face questions over the effectiveness of their current starter, Zack Wilson, following Rodgers' Achilles tendon tear, many in the media and online have suggested names like retired quarterbacks Tom Brady and Matt Ryan to take over as the team's quarterback.
Kaepernick's name has also circulated online, but the former quaterback expressed confidence in Wilson and instead he wrote to New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas that he would be "extremely grateful for the opportunity to come in and lead the practice squad."
"I would do this with the sole mission of getting your defense ready each week," he said.
The Sept. 21 letter was released on Tuesday by rap star J. Cole, who said Kaepernick, 35, was initially "reluctant" to share it publicly. "My argument was that I believe the people and all organizations should know the truth about how hard he works and how much he still wants to play. And always has," the rapper wrote.
Kaepernick, who last played in the NFL in 2016 as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, assured Douglas that he "never retired or stopped training," adding that he's kept the same training schedule he's had for the last six years "in hopes that an opportunity will present itself."
Kaepernick's career came to a halt in 2016 when he decided to take a knee during the national anthem as a protest against police brutality and racial injustice. Since then, he has become an activist for social justice issues. In 2017 he sued the NFL and accused them of colluding to keep him out of the league because of his protests during the national anthem. The league and Kaepernick have settled, but he still hasn't taken the field for any team.
"Five, six days a week I'm still up at 4:30, I go get my training in. Yeah, that passion is still there and the ability is still there," he told "CBS Mornings" in March.
It's unclear whether the Douglas or the Jets responded to Kaepernick's letter. On Tuesday, the Jets signed veteran quarterback Trevor Siemian to back up Wilson. After winning their first game against the Buffalo Bills, the Jets have lost two in a row; on Sunday they will host the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.