Colin Kaepernick should tell the NFL to go take a hike

This workout for all 32 teams doesn't have a good feel to it.

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News came out late Tuesday afternoon that the NFL will be holding a private workout for former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick in Atlanta on Saturday. All 32 teams are invited to attend and watch as he puts in work on the field and then will also be available for team interviews.

At first glance this looked like good news for a man who has been blackballed by the league for the last three years just because he had the gall to take a knee during the national anthem in order to raise awareness on racism and social justice.

Kaepernick later tweeted that he was looking forward to the opportunity and was looking forward to seeing coaches and GMs in Atlanta.

But then some more details came out. The NFL, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, informed Kaepernick’s reps about the workout on Tuesday. His reps had asked the league for the workout to be on a Tuesday, when most tryouts are held, but the league said no. His reps asked for the workout to be on a later Saturday, but the league said no.

So now Kaepernick gets to workout on a few days notice (which isn’t a huge problem since he’s been working out five days a week since he’s been out of the NFL) and on a day before most teams will have a game, which means attendance will likely be very low, if anyone shows up at all.

All of which feels like another slap in the face of a man who has done absolutely nothing wrong. A man who recently spent his 32nd birthday handing out food and supplies to homeless people in Oakland. A man who has handled all of this with class.

I’ve always thought it’s BS that Kaepernick hasn’t been able to get a look from any NFL teams who could desperately need a backup QB with his abilities and his experience.

But now this move by the NFL seems sketchy at best. It also seems like it would be a perfect time for Kaepernick to tell the NFL to go you-know-what itself and go on with the rest of his life helping others and fighting for causes that need his support.

I know it’s Kaepernick’s dream, however, to return to the league and show everyone that he can play and I’d never be one to steer someone away from trying to reach their dreams. But this whole thing from Day 1 has been an ugly mess for everyone involved in the NFL and the way they’ve treated Kaepernick has been an utter embarrassment.

Now I know there are a ton of fans out there who get heated just hearing his name and yell about leaving politics out of sports, though those people are often quick to throw their politics in your face while arguing against Kaepernick’s hopes of playing in the NFL again.

So it would be great if he could deal those people a blow by making it back to the league.

And I know a lot of fans are quick to yell about how he’s a bad quarterback and doesn’t deserve to be in the league.

But we all know he has more than enough talent to be on a NFL roster.

Just this year we’ve seen guys like Luke Falk, Trevor Siemian, Brian Hoyer, and Matt Moore take snaps in NFL games. Heck, Chad Henne had a gig with the Chiefs before getting hurt in the preseason. Chad Henne!

And just last year the Buffalo Bills called on Derek Anderson to start for them even though he had been out of the league. Derek Anderson!

The number of brutally awful QBs to take snaps in NFL games since Kaepernick has been out is both laughable and sad.

Kaepernick is better than all of those players mentioned, without a doubt. So stop with the noise that he stinks. He doesn’t. He could easily be a backup QB in the league and help out when necessary.

But now the NFL wants him to jump through more hoops for something that feels like it will give the league a chance to say “Hey, we gave him a shot!” and then be able to go to sleep at night thinking that they really did try their best when we all know they didn’t.

Kaepernick reportedly got around $10 million to settle his collusion grievances against the NFL last March. He has an endorsement deal with Nike that is probably giving him some good money, so financially he should be OK.

It’s just a shame we’ve come to this.

I hope he goes out and crushes his workout and lands a spot on a team.

But this opportunity has an icky feel to it. One that will likely end with Kaepernick still out of the league.

Which is all the more reason why he should tell the NFL to take a hike.

He’s better than they are.

Tuesday’s biggest winner: Geno Smith.

The Seahawks backup QB went viral late Monday night and all day Tuesday because of how he called heads during Monday night’s game with the 49ers. Some people swore they heard tails. Others, who are on the right side of this, said he said heads. But either way, Geno Smith, who explained why he called heads, was a talking point after a big game and not because he did something wrong. Which is a big win for the QB.

Quick hits: Cheating Astros?… Smart moves for Celtics… Rams need to move Goff… And more!

– This video of the Astros appearing to cheat during a game in 2017 is not a good look for the Astros.

– Brad Stevens and the awesome Marcus Smart have saved the Celtics so far this season, says our Mike Sykes.

– Steven Ruiz explains why the Rams might need to trade Jared Goff away in order to save themselves.

– James Holzhauer was back on Jeopardy! on Tuesday night… and here’s how he did.

(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)