Former 49ers Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid Say They Are "Still Ready" For A Shot At Returning To NFL
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/CNN) -- Former San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, who set the tone for the social justice era in the NFL by taking a knee four years ago during the National Anthem, took to social media Tuesday to say they remain ready for a return to the league but still aren't getting a chance to play.
On the video posted on Instagram are clips of Kaepernick and Reid working out and is accompanied by the text -- "1,363 days of being denied employment. Still putting in work with @e_reid35 Still going hard 5 days a week."
Accompanying the tweet is a counter showing the number of days the 33-year-old has been without an NFL team.
What follows is a montage of Kaepernick throwing the ball to Reid, filmed at a number of different football fields, set to the bass-filled song 'Legacy' by PeteyxKraze playing over the top.
Reid runs a number of different routes, while Kaepernick shows off different throws and his arm strength, as the lyrics in the background ask repeatedly, "What makes you different?"
The video finishes by cutting to black and the words "#stillready#."
In June, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell encouraged teams to sign Kaepernick. The NFL didn't immediately respond to CNN's request for comment regarding Kaepernick's social post.
It is just over a year ago that Kaepernick held his public workout, where teams were able to observe him training.
The workout was itself cloaked in controversy after Kaepernick changed the venue at the last minute, saying the NFL wouldn't allow the planned workout venue to be open to the media and the player's own film crew.
It will be two years in February that Kaepernick and workout partner and free-agent safety Reid settled their collusion grievance cases against the NFL.
Reid, who was one of the first of Kaepernick's teammates to join him in his protests and kneel with each other during the national anthem, played for the Carolina Panthers for the last two seasons. After being released in March, he is yet to find a new team too.
4 Years ago today4 years ago today, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid took a knee for the people, in protest of systemic oppression specifically police brutality. 4 years later, we are still fighting for a future beyond the violence of anti-Blackness.
Posted by Know Your Rights Camp on Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Just in the past six months, multiple players and coaches including 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman and LA Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn have said Kaepernick deserves to be on a team again.
Even Donald Trump has said Kaepernick "should" be on a team "if he deserves it." This is from a man who once said of anthem protestors, that NFL owners of teams with protestors should respond by saying, "Get that son of a bitch of the field right now, he's fired. He's fired!"
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