NFL closes chapter on Colin Kaepernick as league commissioner says former player 'chose not to take' opportunity during workout session
After former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick changed the workout venue last minute, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Wednesday the league has "moved on" from him.
While speaking about the New England Patriots' video recording controversy involving the Cincinnati Bengals sideline, he was asked about the former QB's workout change, reported CNN. "This was ... about creating an opportunity, which Colin's representatives came out in early October and we created that opportunity. It was a unique opportunity -- an incredible opportunity and he chose not to take it. I understand that. And we've moved on here," Goodell said.
The workout was much awaited and was set to be in front of many NFL teams at the Atlanta Falcons. However, in a last-minute switch, it was shifted hundreds of miles away to a high school in Riverdale, south of Atlanta. He hosted his own workout session.
The change in venue is said to have happened half an hour before the event started. He hasn't played since his 2016 season when he first took the knee during the national anthem to protest police shootings of black men and other social injustices faced by the community.
The player's representatives said that they did not agree on certain conditions put forth by the NFL. He had wanted it to be open to the media but an agreement could not be reached. He had also been told not to bring his own film team. There were also issues with the liability waiver, his agent said. He called it "unusual" and "addresses employment-related issues" and that their standard waiver was rejected by NFL.
"So we're waiting for the 32 owners, the 32 teams, (Commissioner) Roger Goodell, all of them to stop running," Kaepernick said after the workout, according to CNN. "Stop running from the truth, stop running from the people."