Signing Colin Kaepernick will absolutely be worth a team’s time, according to his former head coach Jim Harbaugh. Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk wrote an article on Friday quoting the current Michigan Wolverines coach after he appeared on ESPN.
During his appearance, Harbaugh said he understood there are going to be some coaches who are nervous about the prospect about signing Kaepernick. Chief among any concerns are whether or not the quarterback can still play at a high level.
Kaepernick last played in the NFL in 2016. That season he began protesting during the national anthem. While his protest started by sitting on the bench during the song, he talked to a former Navy SEAL who told him it would be more respectful to kneel. Despite the quarterback’s attempts to show respect during his demonstrations, critics claimed he was disrespecting the flag. After 2016, he left the San Francisco 49ers and hasn’t signed with another team since.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, this summer, after Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests were carried out in several cities around the country, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell appeared in a video saying the league should have listened to the kind of protests Kaepernick and others carried out.
This video was seen by those around the league as a willingness to give Kaepernick another chance.
Now that one roadblock has reportedly been lifted, Harbaugh said coaches have a very simple way of seeing whether or not Kaepernick can still play. They should bring him into camp and give him a tryout.
“My personal opinion and really advice to NFL teams is, there’s only one way to answer these questions, one way to find out, and that’s Colin signs somewhere,” Harbaugh said. “My advice is he’d be worth your time and that NFL team will be very happy.”
The coach also made it clear that he had high regard for Kaepernick as both a player and a person. During his appearance on ESPN, he said he considers the quarterback a friend and a brother. He also said Kaepernick is a great teammate. Finally, he called him an unbelievably talented athlete.
Harbaugh’s comments about coaches possibly being concerned about bringing in Kaepernick came after several weeks of rumors that the quarterback could be on the verge of signing with a team. Despite those rumors, Kaepernick’s own representatives admitted no teams have officially reached out and offered to have him tryout.
Some analysts believe that could change once it gets closer to the regular season.
