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Kaepernick Snubs NFL, Moves Workout To Local High School In Atlanta
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UPDATED: Monday 11/18/19 at 11:30 a.m.
After much anticipation, former quarterback Colin Kaepernick worked out in Atlanta on Saturday, but not on the NFL's terms.
The former San Francisco 49ers passer, who remains unsigned since kneeling in protest of police brutality during the national anthem in 2016, had been scheduled by the NFL for a private workout at the Falcons facility in Flowery Branch.
But, at the last moment, Kaepernick changed venues, moving to Charles Drew High School in Riverdale for an open workout in front of the media.
The league says 25 teams sent representatives to the Falcons facility to scout the quarterback, but only a handful of NFL scouts made it to the high school, about an hour south of Flowery Branch.
Kaepernick says the move was based around the NFL’s decision to make the practice closed to the media, which included a video team that Kaepernick had brought along to film the workout.
He also claimed the league tried to get him to sign a waiver that may have indemnified the NFL from any potential lawsuits stemming from event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCp9EfJk2Ro
“I've been ready for three years. I've been denied for three years,” Kaepernick said to a group of reporters following the impromptu workout.
“We all know why I came out here today and showed it in front of everybody. We have nothing to hide. We're waiting for the 32 owners, 32 teams, (Commissioner) Roger Goodell, all of them to stop running. Stop running from the truth, stop running from the people.”
Kaepernick and former teammate Eric Reid settled a collusion suit against the NFL earlier this year.
In an interview with ESPN, Kaepernick’s agent Jeff Nalley was pessimistic about his client’s chances of landing on a team, saying the workout was more of a manufactured event than a request from the league’s teams.
"I'll be honest … I've talked to all 32 teams,” Nalley said.
“I've reached out to them recently, and none of them have had any interest. I'll tell you this: No team asked for this workout. The league office asked for this workout."
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Original post:
A big change of plans for Colin Kaepernick's NFL workout.
Just 15 minutes before Kaepernick was scheduled to work out Saturday for 25 NFL teams at the Atlanta Falcons' training complex in Flowery Branch, the quarterback's representatives announced the session was being moved 60 miles away to a high school in Riverdale
The representatives said the switch was made because they wanted the media to be allowed to watch and videotape the workout.
It was a stunning move that seemed to catch everyone off-guard.
A number of NFL scouts had already gone inside the Falcons' indoor training facility when word came the workout was being shifted from the sprawling suburbs north of Atlanta to Charles Drew High School in Riverdale — south of the city, near the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
It was not known how teams would be attending the workout in the new location.
Dozens of media had been set up in a fenced-off parking next to the Falcons' facility.
This was the latest strange twist in this workout quickly arranged this week by the NFL by the for the 32-year-old Kaepernick.
The former Pro Bowl quarterback hasn't played since 2016 with the San Francisco 49ers. He helped start a wave of protests about social and racial injustice that season by kneeling during the national anthem at games.
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