It’s been almost a decade since Colin Kaepernick last played in an NFL game — but he’s eager to prove he’s still got the goods.
In an exclusive interview to celebrate the release of his new book, The Perilous Fight — out Tuesday, September 15 — Us asked Kaepernick, 38, “how many” of the league’s current 32 starting quarterbacks he thinks he could outperform.
“It’s tough to say because I haven’t been watching the games, but I will check the stat lines to see where quarterbacks are at,” he replied. “Based upon that, I think there’s a good amount.”
Kaepernick said he “wholeheartedly” agreed with the premise that there are some teams that could desperately use his talents.
“We got the cleats by the door,” he said with a smile of the prospect of returning to the football field. “We’ll be out the door.”
Kaepernick last suited up for the San Francisco 49ers on New Year’s Day 2017, exactly four months after he controversially took a knee during the national anthem at a preseason game to protest police brutality and racial inequality.
The quarterback became a free agent after the 2016–17 season, ultimately being passed over by every team in the league. He has never played in the NFL again.
Kaepernick has dedicated his life to activism since his playing career abruptly came to an end, but he acknowledged the opportunity for “closure” with the NFL is still a lingering possibility.
“I think closure would be being back on the field and given the opportunity to continue my career unimpeded by their efforts,” he told Us. “I mean, outside of that, I don’t think there’s ever really closure there when your career is taken away. But what I will also say is, my mentality around it is, ‘I can’t control their actions, but I can control mine.’ I can control waking up and training every day. I can control the impact and approach that I have with the work that I’m doing outside of the NFL and from 2016 moving forward.”
Kaepernick continued. “So while there may not be closure in that way, I also look at it from a perspective of, ‘I’m still going to keep moving forward and keep building and keep looking at ways that I can help advance society as we’re going.’ And I think for me, having that focus allows me to continue to move forward in ways that I think may be more difficult if I didn’t have that focus.”
The Perilous Fight is available Tuesday, September 15.
