Kaepernick May Receive NFL Offers
The Claim
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick won’t receive an invitation back to the National Football League.
Emerging story
On September 7, 2020, Pro Football Talk, an NBC sports blog, published an article saying that the NFL is not interested in rehiring Kaepernick.
The claim was soon picked up by users on social media.
Misbar’s Analysis
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the target of much controversy after kneeling during the U.S. national anthem to bring attention to racial inequality and police brutality. Shortly after, he left the NFL.
Misbar’s investigation found that many of the articles claiming that Kaepernick won’t be invited back to the NFL are misleading by virtue of omission. Pro Football Talk’s report says that there is no interest in him this season (emphasis on this particular season). They came to this conclusion by calling Kaepernick’s friends and family in addition to drawing conclusions from NFL statements.
Many websites wrote articles on the subject, using titles like “Report: No NFL Teams Called Kaepernick About a Job.” This title clearly implies that Kaepernick has never garnered any recent interest from the NFL, but that is incorrect. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he has “encouraged” teams to sign Kaepernick. He said: “Those are club decisions. I’ve encouraged teams to evaluate that and sign him if they feel that’s the case. I’m happy if Kaep gets an opportunity but that’s, you know . . . Teams don’t usually ask me for advice on football hires.”
The NFL has recently publicly condemned racial injustice and police brutality, and many of its players have joined Kaepernick in protesting.
Further, although Kaepernick is still a free agent, EA is including his likeness in the new Madden 21 update. In the game, he is ranked as elite QB.
