Roger Goodell ‘encourages’ Kaepernick signing
Colin Kaepernick made headlines and sparked controversy around the National Football League when he opted to kneel during the national anthem to protest racial inequality while with the San Francisco 49ers. That was back during the 2016 season and the quarterback has yet to play another game in the NFL – despite leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2012.
While the league denies he was ever blackballed, it is hard to believe he couldn’t even land a job as a backup somewhere. However, following the tragic death of George Floyd and the protests that have erupted across the planet as a result, the league seems to be changing its stance.
While making an appearance on ESPN’s “The Return of Sports” special, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about Kaepernick and he expressed his desire to see the former 49ers gunslinger return to the league.
“Well, listen, if he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it’s going to take a team to make that decision,” Goodell said. “But I welcome that, support a club making that decision and encourage them to do that.
“If his efforts are not on the field but continuing to work in this space, we welcome him to that table and to help us, guide us, help us make better decisions about the kinds of things that need to be done in the communities. We have invited him in before, and we want to make sure that everybody’s welcome at that table and trying to help us deal with some very complex, difficult issues that have been around for a long time.
“But I hope we’re at a point now where everybody’s committed to making long-term, sustainable change.”
Goodell also went on to express his regret for the league not speaking out and committing to change earlier. It was just earlier this month that Goodell apologized for not listening to the issues being brought up by players and promised to do better.
“What they were talking about and what they were protesting and what they were trying to bring attention to was playing out right in front of us — and tragically,” Goodell said. “And so all of us saw that, and it was difficult for all of us. And so that was an important point for all of us.”
The NFL is one of the few professional sports leagues that has not been affected much by the COVID-19 pandemic as the regular season isn’t slated to start until September. They were able to hold their annual draft virtually and free agency has also been able to go ahead as planned.
Despite not playing games yet, Goodell was asked players on both the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans testing positive for the virus. He was not at all concerned about it.
“So positive tests are going to happen,” Goodell said. “The issue is, can we obviously prevent as many of those from happening, but in addition, treat them quickly, isolate them and prevent them from directly impacting our player personnel.
“So none of those players were in the facilities. All of those players, fortunately, have had either mild symptoms or are asymptomatic.”
