A protester outside the Georgia training facility on Saturday where Colin Kaepernick is due to work out for several NFL teams carried an American flag and brought a sign calling the controversial quarterback an ‘un-American loser’ who should ‘get out of my town.’
Another protester put up a sign that read ‘Stand up for the flag’. A number of miniature Stars and Stripes were seen in the lawn in front of the Atlanta Falcons practice facility in Flowery Branch.
Alongside protesters, there were also supporters of Kaepernick. One of them held a sign which read: ‘I’m with Kap.’
Kaepernick landed in Atlanta on Friday ahead of this weekend’s workout in front of scouts from 25 NFL teams, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
A man carries an American flag while holding a sign which read ‘Colin Kaepernick, un-American Loser, Get out of my town’ in Flowery Branch, Georgia, on Saturday
Kaepernick was in Flowery Branch for a workout at the Atlanta Falcons’ training facility. A Kaepernick supporter holds up a sign which read: ‘I’m with Kap.’
A man who says he’s from California holds up a sign thanking the Falcons ‘for giving Kaepernick a second chance’
Several supporters of Kaepernick are seen above outside the Falcons training facility in Flowery Branch on Saturday
Beginning at 3pm local time on Saturday, the former Niners star will go through measurements, stretching, and warmups, according to Rapoport.
He will also be doing quarterback drills. The entire workout will be videotaped and made available to all 32 NFL teams within 24 hours, according to Rapoport.
Kaepernick hasn’t played since January 2017, when he was a backup for the San Francisco 49ers.
That year, the quarterback started a wave of protests about social and racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem at games.
While some believe Kaepernick’s workout is a PR stunt orchestrated by NFL officials, others are excited for the possibility to see the athlete back on the field.
Tom Brady, whose New England Patriots is one of 24 teams that will attend Kaepernick’s workout, said in a recent interview with Jim Gray on Westwood One, that it’s ‘pretty cool’ that Kaepernick is getting a chance to showcase himself to the teams.
‘I think being a pro quarterback is very challenging in and of itself,’ Brady said. ‘To have time off is a challenge, but Colin’s overcome a lot of challenges in his career, and he’s always found a way to produce.
‘He’s very mentally tough, and I think it’s pretty cool that he’s getting that opportunity,’ Brady added.
It was also revealed this week that rapper Jay-Z had a hand in organizing the workout for Kaepernick.
Colin Kaepernick (pictured at Atlanta’s airport) landed on Friday ahead of this weekend’s workout in front of 24 NFL teams, including the New England Patriots
While some believe Kaepernick’s workout is a PR stunt orchestrated by NFL officials, others are excited for the possibility to see the athlete back on the field, including Tom Brady, who said in a recent interview that it’s ‘pretty cool’ that Kaepernick is getting this opportunity
It was also revealed this week that rapper Jay-Z had a hand in organizing the workout for Kaepernick. Sources claimed that Jay-Z had several discussions with NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell (pictured together in August), which ultimately led to the workout being scheduled
According to USA Today, sources claimed that Jay-Z had several discussions with NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, which ultimately led to the workout being scheduled.
The sources said the rapper advocated on Kaepernick’s behalf for what he saw as a need to try and help the quarterback get back into the league.
Kaepernich’s workout session was announced on Tuesday, just more than three months after Jay-Z was heavily criticized as being a ‘sellout’ for agreeing to partner with the NFL on a social justice campaign in August.
Despite the criticism, Jay-Z was persistent in his stance that the league needed to facilitate a potential return for Kaepernick, according to USA Today.
The news site also reported that the NFL offices had previously received multiple inquiries this season about Kaepernick’s physical readiness to play.
That couple with numerous meetings with Jay-Z, reportedly prompted Goodell to schedule the workout for Kaepernick.
The league also announced that two former NFL head coaches will be in attendance: Hue Jackson, who will lead the drills, and Joe Philbin.
The teams that have RSVP’d so far are: the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins.
Throughout the week, Kaepernick’s potential return to the NFL has brought on mixed reviews. In an interview with ESPN on Wednesday, Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid (pictured) said Kaepernick’s last-minute workout ‘feels like a PR stunt’ orchestrated by NFL officials
Reid (left) was the first player to join Kaepernick’s in taking a knee to protest extrajudicial killings of black people by police when the pair were teammates on the 49ers
Reid said: ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ The NFL invited all 32 teams to attend the workout on Saturday – offering Kaepernick (center) the chance to return to the field for the first time since his kneeling protests against racial injustice roiled the sport three years ago
Throughout the week, Kaepernick’s potential return to the NFL has brought on mixed reviews.
Dozens of Cowboys supporters responded to the reports by vowing to abandon the team if it signed Kaepernick.
‘I wont watch another cowboy game in my life if they pick that POS up,’ one fan tweeted.
‘You can’t call yourself America’s team and then sign someone who kneels for the National Anthem,’ a person who claims to have been a Cowboys fan since the 1970s wrote. ‘If it happens, I will be a [Houston] Texans fan.’
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett remained tight lipped on whether the invitation would be accepted during a press conference on Wednesday.
‘I’m not really in-tuned to that situation very much,’ Garrett said of Kaepernick. ‘We have personnel people who evaluate all guys who have an opportunity to hopefully help our team.’
The Cowboy’s current quarterback, Dak Prescott, is out of contract at the end of the season.
Kaepernick confirmed in a tweet Tuesday that league officials had reached out to his representatives and expressed an interest in hosting the workout and interview session.
‘I’ve been in shape and ready for this for 3 years, can’t wait to see the head coaches and GMs on Saturday,’ the exiled former Pro Bowl quarterback wrote.
While Kaepernick voiced his excitement over the opportunity, others expressed suspicion that the workout could be a PR stunt by league officials who shunned the quarterback after he kneeled during the National Anthem in 2016.
Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid – Kaepernick’s former 49ers teammate who was the first player to join him in taking a knee to protest extrajudicial killings of black people by police – said on Wednesday that ‘it feels disingenuous’ that the league would schedule the workout on a Saturday, as most teams play on Sunday.
‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ Reid told ESPN. ‘At this point, it feels like a PR stunt.’
The reason behind the sudden outreach from the NFL has not been confirmed; however, many are questioning its timing and the league’s lack of flexibility considering the date, believing that Kaepernick could be being set up for failure.
Firstly, Saturday tryouts conflict with the regular NFL scouting of college football games.
And secondly, asking high-ranking NFL personnel to get on flights to and from Atlanta hours before Sunday’s kickoff times will likely limit the number of attendees willing to make the trip.
After he was released from the 49ers in 2016, Kaepernick charged that teams would not sign him because they wanted to distance themselves from the protests, which President Donald Trump blasted as unpatriotic and disrespectful.
But at a press conference on Wednesday, Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores appeared optimistic that Kaepernick’s abilities won’t have diminished in the last three years.
‘Having that much time off you have to get back into the swing of things,’ Flores told reporters.
‘But he was a very good player so we’ll see what it looks like and do our due diligence and take it from there.’
After he was released from the 49ers in 2016, Kaepernick (pictured in March) charged that teams would not sign him because they wanted to distance themselves from the protests, which President Donald Trump blasted as unpatriotic and disrespectful
Lions coach Matt Patricia also confirmed that the team would attend, telling TMZ: ‘As an organization, we always do our due diligence on all players that are available… so I know [Bob Quinn] and his staff will have someone down there to watch the workout and we’ll see where that goes.’
A source said the league’s decision to invite all 32 teams to watch Kaepernick ‘came out of the blue with no prior communication’.
They added Kaepernick’s team was given a two-hour window to accept the invitation and was denied a request to schedule the tryout on a Tuesday or another Saturday.
Kaepernick’s representatives have asked the league to provide a rolling list of teams that plan to attend the workout to ensure it’s a ‘legitimate process,’ according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because details haven’t been made public.
In six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick appeared in 69 games and completed 59.8 per cent of his passes for 12,271 yards with 72 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. He added 13 rushing touchdowns.
He opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers after the 2016 season after his kneeling protests reached an unsavory crescendo.
Last month, Kaepernick’s representatives released a two-page statement ‘to address the false narratives’ regarding his efforts to join an NFL team.
Among the details, the statement said no team has offered Kaepernick a job or brought him in for a workout since the 2016 season.
It noted that the Seattle Seahawks brought Kaepernick in for a visit, but did not work him out, and that no other team has interviewed or visited with the quarterback ‘despite other false statements in the media to the contrary’.
Kaepernick’s representatives said their client had been working out five days a week for three years and has not demanded a specific salary.
They said at the time they had reached out to all 32 NFL organizations ‘with little to no response from teams about an opportunity’.
Trump weighed in on the quarterback’s likelihood of resuming his career.
‘Frankly, I’d love to see Kaepernick come in — if he’s good enough,’ Trump said in August.
‘But I don’t want to see him come in because somebody thinks it’s a good PR move. If he’s good enough, he will be in.’
The workout on Saturday will consist of on-field activities and interviews with team officials, according to ESPN.
‘We have… arranged this opportunity for him to work out, and for all clubs to have the opportunity to evaluate his current readiness and level of interest in resuming his NFL career,’ the league said in a memo
Kaepernick filed a collusion grievance against NFL owners in October 2017 after going unsigned as a free agent.
The two sides resolved the grievance in February with the settlement thought to be in the region of $10million.