MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

Alex Smith wonders why Colin Kaepernick is still out of NFL, Internet says nobody wants former 49ers QB's 'drama'

Kapernick was ousted from the NFL after he took a knee during the national anthem in the 2016 season with the 49ers

Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith remembered the season he and Colin Kaepernick were teammates and when the latter took the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. On a recent podcast, Smith said he struggled to understand why his former backup is not in the NFL.

"It still doesn't make sense," Smith said on 10 Questions With Kyle Brandt. "The run that he went on the last year we were together when we went to the Super Bowl...[it] was so crazy to watch. Truly one of the historic runs in football to see what he was doing. He still holds records from that time period. Really special. It's crazy that fast forward to only a couple of years after that he's out of the league. You couldn't even grasp it. You couldn't understand it."

RELATED ARTICLES

Colin Kaepernick gets shoutout from Mariah Carey amid Super Bowl LV, fans ask 'gutless' NFL to hire player back

Colin Kaepernick honored with Tampa mural, billboards for being on 'right side of history' ahead of Super Bowl

Smith wondered Kaepernick is still not back in the league despite his abilities on the field. The footballer-turned-activist was ousted from the NFL after he began taking a knee during the national anthem in the 2016 season with the 49ers. The 33-year-old quarterback has gone for three long seasons without being hired by an NFL team after being labeled a controversial distraction by some higher-ups in the league owing to the pushback received from hordes of fans. The backlash began after he started kneeling during the National Anthem in his 2016 season to protest police brutality and racial injustice against black Americans.

Kaepernick eventually joined hands with Eric Reid and the two filed a lawsuit against the NFL, claiming league bosses had conspired against them to not sign them onto rosters in light of their protests. However, the two sides settled in February 2019, CBS Sports reported.

According to Smith, there were reasons beyond football that Kaepernick was kept out of the league.

"I think it's so tragic looking at it. I think he was ahead of his time, certainly, trying to call out social injustice, especially around police reform," Smith said of Kaepernick. "The country wasn't ready. Nobody was ready for it, and he's sitting there trying to tell everybody through a completely peaceful manner about some of the things going on in this country that had been going on for a long time." He added: "To see the backlash that happened, yeah, it hurts. The country wasn't ready for it and he suffered the repercussions with his job and then how brave he was. He lost his livelihood."

Netizens, however, said teams hiring Kaepernick would be asking for "drama," and questioned his caliber as a quarterback. "What team wants his drama for a backup. If teams thought he was a starting-caliber QB he'd be on a team. Reason why AB was signed and not him," one tweeted. "Is he the only player that should be in the league that isn’t or is he the only high profile player out of the league?" another added.

"Being below average your last couple of seasons + worldwide “controversy” + refusing to sign an extension + talking your way out of being signed by other teams + lawsuits + years of inactivity = NFL career over," a third chimed in.