It’s over. It’s been over. And nothing that happened on Tuesday will keep it from being over.
Colin Kaepernick will never play in the NFL again. He’ll never be on a roster, or on a practice squad. It’s done. It’s been done.
Last year’s decision of Raiders owner Mark Davis to give Kaepernick a workout was stunning. But it ultimately went nowhere. Even now, when the Raiders arguably could use another quarterback given Jimmy Garoppolo’s latest injury, it’s highly unlikely that it will happen, with the Raiders or anyone else.
Kaepernick sent a letter to Jets G.M. Joe Douglas last week. The letter was then leaked five days later, presumably after it failed to get Kaepernick an invitation to tryout for the team.
The premise was odd. Kaepernick volunteered to lead the practice squad in order to help the defense prepare each week. The request reflected a gross misunderstanding of how things work on an NFL team. The scout-team quarterback helps prepare the defense, and the scout-team quarterback is selected based on the skills of the next opponent’s quarterback.
It could be the No. 2 quarterback. It could be the No. 3 quarterback. It could be someone who doesn’t even play quarterback. It’s never, each and every week, the “leader” of the practice squad.
The fact that Kaepernick turned the effort into a publicity stunt will not make the Jets any more inclined to give him a chance. The fact that so much time has passed since he last played (January 1, 2017) makes it even less likely that anyone will give him a chance.
It has simply been too long. It has been too long in part because the NFL successfully colluded against and blackballed Kaepernick.
Congratulations, NFL. You won. The effort to keep Kaepernick out lasted long enough that the best argument for not giving him a chance is that it has simply been too long since he played.
That’s the end of the story. The NFL wanted him out. The NFL kept him out. And now, it’s far too long for Kaepernick to get back in.
