Colin Kaepernick held his workout on Saturday, but it didn’t happen in the way most would expect. Rather than an NFL sanctioned event held at the Atlanta Falcons practice facility in Flowery Branch that had 25 NFL executives in attendance, Kaepernick chose instead to work out in front of NFL executives and media at Charles Drew High School in Riverdale, Georgia.
It was a last minute decision that was made my Kaepernick’s team over concerns about transparency, namely the NFL refusing to allow media to watch and the league wanting him to sign a different liability waiver than the standard pro day one, which included an obscure clause regarding non-employment.
So how did we get to this point? Let’s begin with what transpired earlier in the week.
Leading up to Saturday
When it was announced on Tuesday that Kaepernick would be holding an NFL-sponsored workout on Saturday, it came as a surprise to many, even to Kap himself. He reportedly asked the league to hold the workout on a Tuesday, when NFL teams are off and most executives would have been available to attend. He was denied. Saturday is a less than ideal day for a workout considering it is the day before games and scouting departments send their most trusted scouts to college games on Saturdays.
The concern on Kaepernick’s side would be that teams would have sent their scouts who have little-to-no pull within their organizations to the workout, which led many, including Kaepernick and his former teammate Eric Reid, to be skeptical and believe that the workout was nothing more than a PR stunt for the NFL.
Eric Reid explaining how the Saturday timing of Colin Kapernick’s workout makes this seem “disingenuous”: pic.twitter.com/sBrJCE0CaI
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) November 13, 2019
Before the workout
Once Saturday came around, it didn’t take long for fans, and some haters, to begin showing up outside the Falcons’ practice facility.
Outside of the Falcons facility: Anti-Kaepernick protestors on the left; Kaepernick supporters in much greater numbers on the right. pic.twitter.com/6N5IwwC2OV
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) November 16, 2019
The workout was scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. EST at the Flowery Ranch facility, however disagreements between the league an Kaepernick led to his team deciding to move the workout to Charles Drew High School in Riverdale, an hour away from the original location. Ben Meiselas and Jeff Nalley released a statement on behalf of Kaepernick explaining why they made the decision to change locations:
Here is a statement released by Colin Kaepernick’s camp as they relocate the workout today. pic.twitter.com/zZ3Y522dWS
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) November 16, 2019
Their biggest issue with the league was their perceived lack of transparency. Kaepernick wanted to open the workout up to media and cameras to prevent the NFL controlling the narrative surrounding the workout. He also took issue with the liability waiver that he was given, which was different than the one given to all players. The league wanted Kaepernick to sign a waiver that included “employment-related issues.”
Minutes before Kaepernick’s workout in Riverdale began, the NFL released a statement sayng they were “disappointed” that he did not show up for the 3:00 workout.
The #NFL’s statement on Colin Kaepernick changing venues for today’s workout… pic.twitter.com/xNva654W5m
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) November 16, 2019
The statement claimed that the league had already accommodated numerous requests from Kaepernick’s camp and that this afternoon was the first time they had heard of his desire to open the workout to all media and an independent film crew.
During the workout
Kaepernick took the field at 4:00 p.m. with Brice Butler, Bruce Ellington, Jordan Veasy, and Ari Werts as his receivers. He threw routes for approximately 30 minutes in front of representatives from the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, San Francisco 49ers, and Detroit Lions. The workout was open to all media and was livestreamed on Twitter.
Colin Kaepernick works out at a high school in Riverdale, GA in front of media and at least a handful of NFL personnel : https://t.co/XpNK9aMSG9
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) November 16, 2019
Kaepernick used the opportunity to show off his arm and mobility, including this bomb that was captured on social media:
This Colin Kaepernick deep ball during his workout was beautiful. pic.twitter.com/HOZnclngZZ
— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) November 16, 2019
Kap performed so well that ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that an NFL executive described his arm talent as “elite” and remarked that it is just as good as when he came out of college.
After the workout
After Kaepernick wrapped up, he reportedly met with executives from the Jets, Redskins, and Chiefs, during which he told them “When you go back, tell your owners to stop being scared,” according to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic.
Kaepernick took a few moments to address the media before leaving Charles Drew High School.
Colin Kaepernick made a 90 second statement before leaving pic.twitter.com/QlH2RTnLp5
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 16, 2019
“Ball’s in their court, we’re ready to go,” Kaepernick said before walking off to a thunderous applause.
