By Amy Tennery
(Reuters) – Quarterback Colin Kaepernick was expected to attend workouts with the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday, a source with the NFL Players Association told Reuters.
Kaepernick has not played in the National Football League (NFL) since 2016, when he began protesting against racial injustice by kneeling during the U.S. national anthem before games while he was with the San Francisco 49ers, prompting national debate.
He went unsigned as a free agent in 2017 and filed a collusion grievance against NFL owners, saying he was being retaliated against for his activism. In 2019, the two sides settled.
Wednesday’s workout in Las Vegas is the first the 34-year-old has held with an individual team since he last took the field.
He has repeatedly said he is ready to play and last month indicated that he was willing to accept a role as a backup quarterback, if the opportunity became available.
In 2019, he attended a special workout at an Atlanta high school in front of representatives from multiple NFL teams.
He said at the time that teams would not sign him because of his protests, which then-U.S. President Donald Trump called unpatriotic.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
