Colin Kaepernick willing to take backup quarterback role amid NFL comeback attempt

Colin Kaepernick says he is willing to accept a backup quarterback role amid his ongoing pursuit of a potential NFL comeback. 

The 34-year-old has been throwing to NFL and college wide receivers, including the Seattle Seahawks' Tyler Lockett, throughout the offseason and recently worked out in front of NFL scouts at half-time of Michigan's spring game.

Speaking on the latest episode of the I am Athlete podcast, Kaepernick reiterated his desire to prove he can still play in the league.

"I know I have to find my way back in. So, yeah, if I have to come back in as a backup, that's fine," he told former NFL players Brandon Marshall, Chad Johnson and Pacman Jones.

"But that's not where I'm staying. And when I prove that I'm a starter, I wanna be able to step on the field as such. I just need that opportunity to walk through the door."

Kaepernick's last game in the NFL came against the Seahawks on the final day of the 2016 season when he went 17 of 22 passing for 215 yards and one touchdown in a 25-23 defeat with the San Francisco 49ers.

He finished that campaign with 2,241 passing yards for 16 touchdowns to four interceptions in 12 games (11 starts), alongside 468 yards and two scores on the ground.

"I think more than anything it's a passion," Kaepernick added. "Like, you have those dreams from when you're a kid. Like, I'm going to be an NFL player and I'm going to win a Super Bowl.

"And for me, I have unfinished business on that front. I've been to the Super Bowl; we were one play away. Well, I need to finish that. My mentality isn't just to go out and compete.

"No, I want to win a championship. And I know that it may take different paths to get there, but I wholeheartedly believe I'm going to make that happen."

Kaepernick famously took a knee during the national anthem prior to 49ers' games in 2016 in protest against police brutality and racial injustice.

Then-US president Donald Trump subsequently called on the NFL to fire any player that did not stand for the anthem as small groups began to follow Kaepernick's lead by kneeling. The NFL also initially introduced fines for those that did not stand, as well as a policy allowing players who did not want to stand to stay in the locker room for the anthem.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted in August 2020 he wished the league had listened to Kaepernick sooner.

Kaepernick went unsigned as a free agent at the end of the season, his only visit being with the Seahawks. He later had a scheduled workout cancelled with Seattle in the 2018 offseason, before Seahawks staff were later among those due to watch Kaepernick workout in Georgia in November 2019 until the location of the event was changed on the day.

The 34-year-old filed a grievance against the NFL in 2017 claiming collusion as no teams signed him after he parted ways with the 49ers, eventually settling with the league in 2019.