Tyler Lockets, Pete Caroll on Colin Kaepernick coming back to NFL

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter last week, Kaepernick seemed to be “in the best shape of his life.” The opportunity seems to present itself for the 34-year-old.

Colin Kaepernick led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl XLVII appearance in the 2012 season. He last played in the NFL in 2016. In the same year, he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice after police brutality in the United States. Although some consider it patriotic, Kaepernick actually also received critics from politicians, team owners, and other players.

With the hiring of Kyle Shanahan as the new head coach, Kaepernick was believed to have a different style of play than what Shanahan envisioned for the Niners, thus Kaepernick was replaced by Jimmy Garoppolo.

In 2020, global opinion started to shift on racial injustice in the US and following the killing of George Floyd, people began vilifying those who attacked Kaepernick. However, no job offer still for the former quarterback, until Sunday when he complimented Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett.

Some of these QB needy teams will skip this and they probably shouldn’t. Why not give him a shot, are you afraid of success? https://t.co/MZ3mLR4RjM

— SmiFF (@bigblackenstien) March 15, 2022

Lockett on Kaepernick

Both exchanged responses on Twitter. Kaepernick, who still trains regularly in hopes of returning to the NFL, responded as he committed to return back next Monday to coordinate with Lockett.

Lockett seems to think Kaepernick deserves another shot. It was not immediately known the location where they both will get together.

Meanwhile, aside from Lockett’s opinion on Kaepernick, Kaepernick previously already had suitors who think of him many times but did not end in a deal. He is Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

A few years ago, Caroll said that Kaepernick should be a starter in the league, but at that time, the team only wanted a backup for Russell Wilson. Now, Wilson has been traded to Denver. Perhaps, this is the right moment for Kaepernick.

Here’s a few clips from yesterday’s workout with @TDLockett12 and his brother Sterling Lockett.

The full workout is available at this link https://t.co/7ZhvTeDqZU.

We are back at it today with @Footwork_King2 and his guys on ig live later today. pic.twitter.com/BLrs0hJLrB

— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) March 15, 2022

Pete Caroll on Kaepernick

In 2017, the Seahawks were the first NFL team to give Kaepernick a free-agency tryout. It did not end in a deal. In 2018, the team considered Kaepernick only to end otherwise as they traded with Green Bay for Brett Hundley to be Wilson’s backup. 2019 was the same, and Caroll had several times put Kaepernick on the list for his consideration. With Wilson gone, perhaps now could be the chance Kaepernick will definitely get the part with the Seahawks.

“I wouldn’t hesitate — and I’ve said this, ongoing, for years — if Russ ever got tangled up and couldn’t play or something, Kaep would have been an extraordinary candidate to take over. Because of the dynamics of his play,” Caroll said in 2020.

Kaepernick who misses working with professional route runners has been out of the league for five seasons. Though he never stopped training, his void of the years not playing in the NFL will surely impact his performance. However, remembering that Caroll still sees Kaepernick as a great player, perhaps this could be another consideration why Kaepernick must be given a chance to play this season.

“Really, simply put: I, we all held him in great regard as a player,” Caroll added.

“We had coached against him in championship games and watched him go the Super Bowl. He beat us. We beat him. I think we knew Kaep, as well as anybody, could have known a player, because of the depth of competition we had against him. And when we had the opportunity, it had come up…”

Colin Kaepernick

Colin Rand Kaepernick is an American civil rights activist and a former quarterback. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League . In 2016, (wikipedia)

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league’s NFC West, (wikipedia)