Roger Goodell says the NFL has ‘moved on’ from Colin Kaepernick’s November workout

Commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell has said the league has ‘moved on’ after  Colin Kaepernick organized his own private workout for scouts last month.

Originally, 25 teams were set to attend Kaepernick’s tryout organized by the NFL, but the free agent quarterback cancelled it in favor of organizing his own workout. 

In an unusual move, the NFL had wanted to host the tryout on a Saturday, when scouts are usually busy working college football games.

Kaepernick responded at the time saying the NFL’s workout was a PR stunt destined to fail. 

But during a Wednesday press conference Goodell appeared to hint that the time for Kaepernick to rejoin a team in the league had now passed. 

Colin Kaepernick has not received any interest from NFL teams after organizing his own private workout for scouts on November 16 outside Atlanta, pictured here

‘It was a unique opportunity, a credible opportunity,’ Goodell said as reported by Yahoo Sports. ‘He chose not to take it, and I understand that. We’ve moved on.’

A total of 25 teams were supposed to attend the league’s workout run by two former head coaches at the Atlanta Falcons’ practice facility on November 16.

Instead, Kaepernick ditched that workout and ended up throwing passes in front of representatives from eight NFL teams at his own event at a site some 60 miles away.

Sources previously told NFL.com that the former San Francisco 49ers star showed good arm strength, but only average accuracy during the tryout. 

According to ESPN, Kaepernick has still yet to receive any interest following the event.  

Representatives from both sides blamed each other for what went wrong. 

Kaepernick’s side said the NFL orchestrated a workout as a public relations stunt destined to fail, while the league said it gave him a real chance to show off his skills – and he didn’t show up.

Kaepernick’s side requested to move the workout to a Tuesday when most teams bring free agents in for tryouts. It was concerned that team ‘decision-makers’ wouldn’t be present on a weekend.

The NFL said it was Commissioner Roger Goodell’s idea to give Kaepernick a platform for an unprecedented workout.

A former San Francisco 49ers QB, Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem throughout the 2016 NFL season to protest inequality and racist police brutality

The league, which hasn’t arranged tryouts for other free agents, said Goodell felt it was right to give the exiled QB the chance to showcase his skills but judging by his comments on Wednesday, it appears that window of opportunity has now closed.

Teams were expressing interest in knowing whether Kaepernick was serious about playing. Kaepernick posted on social media that he was working out five days a week and ready to play again. 

Goodell spoke to other league officials and people outside the organization and decided an open tryout would give teams an opportunity to see for themselves. 

‘We all know why I came out here: to show you today, in front of everybody, we have nothing to hide,’ Kaepernick said at the time. ‘So we’re waiting for the 32 owners, the 32 teams, Roger Goodell, all of them, to stop running. Stop running from the truth, stop running from the people.’ 

Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl seven years ago, hasn’t played since 2016 when he sparked a wave of protests and divisive debate by kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. 

The league in February settled a collusion grievance filed by Kaepernick and Eric Reid.