 You know from the outside looking in without knowing the internecine Battles that were going on between the NFL and Kaepernick's people It looks like Kaepernick doesn't even want to play that he's all about his message He's all about being the guy. He's all about being the martyr and does he does he really want to play? I thought Don brought up a great point earlier If he plays and fails then all of a sudden the martyrdom is gone If he never gets an opportunity again, he can always say to his dying day They took it away from me, but my my values were more important So there's so many levels of this that I don't get like why did you change it so late to the original starting time of the Practice and have it 60 miles away, which is about an hour drive So from 23 teams that were going to be represented it came down to eight so he played at a high school field in Georgia and He showed the arm that everybody knows that he has but what is exactly it show? It just looks like he wants he's more about his cause and I'm gonna say that's wrong Then he's about playing in the NFL. So does he come out looking like he's a bigger man because his cause is bigger? Yes, but does it help him become an NFL player again? Absolutely not. So what does he want? Well, here's my question though if you read this paragraph in the in the Waver that basically says The NFL does not not only do they not owe you a job. You're not guaranteed a job. Okay? But not only that You basically have no more blame that you can place on anyone after this try it Meaning yes, there's a chance that if the try out were to take place and no one wanted his services That could be legitimate But you need to sign something saying and now you have no other kit coming because we let you have this Focac to try out and everyone thinks it's shady in the first place as I asked you earlier Didn't you already sue them and they came to a settlement? Well, where's another suit? Well, I agree with you But obviously the NFL feels differently because why would they include that and when Kaepernick's lawyer Sent that they sent the agreement back without that paragraph They removed that paragraph and the NFL said no, that's a no-go Then the NFL puts out their own statement about what happens which was filled with falsehoods, too They said things about Nike Nike asked if they could shoot a commercial Nike had to put out a statement say we never asked the NFL for that They just simply made it up. So it's I was on Saturday. My feeling was man. Kaep I guess really doesn't want to play He just he doesn't want to but then when I read the paragraph myself. I went. Well, why would he sign this? Why would he sign this? Why couldn't they have just made it work under an agreement so no guarantee you get a job? But that's it. Well, what about the fact that Jay Z has come down on Kaepernick and said, you know Why he ruined his chance? Well, because Kaepernick makes sense Jay Z is working with Cadel right and is trying to make this whole NFL relationship work But I mean Jay in this moment feels like he's on this corporate side He's not on Kaepernick side anymore He is working with the NFL and I'm there's a chance Jay Z went to the NFL Lobby hard for them to do something they went you know what you're right That sounds like a good idea Jay We are gonna do that then they went to their lawyers and said hey What should we do here and the lawyer went what you should have him do is sign this contract if he signs this waiver We're good no matter what moving forward because otherwise I don't understand why it's there The paragraph is not a standard procedure paragraph I think Kaepernick's biggest mistake was simply the message he delivered afterwards You haven't spoken in front of a live mic in years three years, and I thought his message was very aggressive and just wasn't the right play He should have he should have made it look like I really wanted to do this thing in Atlanta NFL really made it impossible for me. I'm thankful you guys came out I hope it works out, but instead the whole stop running from me You're scared of me. I don't think that was the messaging that helped his cause Have you ever thought that maybe both sides are wrong that it's become a dog and pony show for both sides. Yeah, right the NFL I think they've been wrong from the start on this But you know they're they're trying to go through this look at the effort We're trying to make with him But also trying to cover their backside for any further litigation and Colin instead of just accepting whatever you get to Try to get back into the league. He's trying to treat it as They're continuing to play the victim and the things that he said afterward because I thought Michael really hit the nail on the head You had nothing to say to the media for how long and then all of a sudden now, you know, you're ripping into everybody I just think everybody's the NFL is trying to save face Colin Kaepernick's trying to keep this whole thing Alive this whole narrative alive of I was job I think most people believe that now but at this particular point three years after the fact I think it's over. All right. He sacrificed his career We got to move on for the weird or or make every effort humanly possible sometimes sometimes you got to swallow it Right, because you want to get back in the NFL. Let me ask you this though, Peter Why why would he want to sue the NFL if he didn't get another job? So they want to cover their backside with that paragraph Right and and maybe he's saying if I would he want that to be still an option Because if he doesn't get a job still he may still believe that collusion is taking place even after the initial lawsuit And that this is continued collusion. Well, the whole thing was fishy anyway Why in week 11 do they come up with this tryout? None of it makes sense. He doesn't know about it They didn't even reach out. They just announced it randomly one day But if you want to get back into the NFL Peter as fugazi at all may seem you got to jump through Just play just play ball because ultimately if he still has it He going out of him going out there and playing and in succeeding and winning a job That's even a bigger victory for him and an even bigger victory for everything. He's been trying to accomplish. I agree, okay? So if you really believe you can do it Then you sometimes you just got to bite the bullet and go out there and do what you got to do Even though the NFL's Messing with you you just go take the opportunity because it's gonna be the last opportunity you ever had and and the truth is You know one thing I don't think he really was right about was Demanding that it be open to the media. Yeah Here's the thing when I go to audition for a job You know, I can't go audition when I went to WWE and say hey by the way before we do this I want the tape. I want my people to come shoot it. No, that's not really how auditions work Yeah, but I combined your clothes again He's trying to cover his butt He wants the media to judge whether or not it was a fair workout and whether or not what the teams are saying is Actually what took place, but the way it was fashioned when he spoke to the me I think he spoke for a minute and He said, you know, it was important. They didn't want the media in and I wanted the transparency You've had no transparency since you left the NFL You have not spoken to the media granted one interview for three years And then if you want transparency with the media, you don't stand there on your soapbox and speak and then don't take Questions didn't take one question. Come on and I he's trying out both sides of his mouth And I thought I thought another bad look I did not like about what cap did was once he held the tryout The entire thing was filled with all his people. So like on the field with him if you watched it It was just all people wearing. I know my right shirts, right cavernic jerseys everywhere You look like you're not positioning yourself correctly like it's interesting I keep thinking about Martin Luther King and the way King used the media How specific he was about the way he wanted cameras to be there because of the way he knew he could Endear himself to people and get people who wouldn't have normally felt sympathetic to feel sympathetic based what they saw on camera And I feel that Colin did not he forced the media to be there. He allowed it He got it done But then he didn't you take advantage of it by making himself seem like a sympathetic character He kind of came off as as more bitter than sympathetic He does not sell himself well to the general public for those that Totally support right cause well, it doesn't matter He's got him. It's almost like he's got a base that he's not gonna lose and that bases it by the way That's significant. They deserve a lot of credit, too I mean with the NFL have ever done this in the first place without that base All right, so he's got that base But don't you want to convince other people other than the base that you really do want to play in the NFL You've really got a question. Is it about quote-unquote his cause or is it about playing in the NFL? Also, whether it's for the cause or not the one thing that would completely ruin everything for Colin is if he signs with The team and falls on his face See, I don't know that I agree with that though I don't think that if he fails at this point coming back it would it would mess up his cause at all I think he goes they took away three years in my prime. I made it back to the league I'm glad I made it back, but I mean hey, but it does have the narrative That the reason he didn't sign with anybody was because he wasn't good at anyone who feels that way is a fool though Literally, if you believe that people don't feel that they don't have an opinion on sports that counts If you think the reason he wasn't in the league was because of his football skill I agree with you don't you your opinion is in value, but you know for a fact We can start taking phone calls from people who will say come on Look at it Blaine Gabbard took his job at the end of his career He can't play anymore and then he goes out there and plays after having a workout The team signs them and he falls on his face it see you then that ends the whole talk of every time You still do it, right? Every time a quarterback signs you're telling me Colin Kaepernick's not better. Well, this would confirm you say well No, Colin Kaepernick isn't better I agree with you and you can talk about that side being ignorant and not and not knowing Football, but you can't deny that it doesn't exist and that's why I feel very uncomfortable Coming down, you know solidly on one side. We don't know why the NFL pulled this little stunt We have no idea really what's behind Kaepernick and why he pulled his little stunt So we're supposed to give a definitive Take I can't and we I can't do it. I can't lie to my audience. I don't know what this is about Nobody's telling the truth. No, I mean listen Steven A over the weekend got a lot of controversy on Saturday And he made his statement. I understand why Steven Steven has the right to feel how he feels But when I saw it I couldn't help but think Steven You must have not read the paragraph that people are saying about the waiver because you have there are two sides to This maybe he doesn't care about that paragraph Maybe he still feels that do you want to play in the NFL or not? And that's a and that's fine, but you are choosing to look over important information. I I'm with Michael 100% I wish I could give everyone a stone cold Colin is the man they tried to screw him again, and he beat them. There are people who feel it's that way I don't believe it's that simple. I believe the NFL's intentions here. We're very questionable Very understandably protective. No, I don't think he did a great when he gets gets protective I don't think he does a great job with the message. He's trying to send Bill Rodin used to write for the Times good friend I love Billy's a great guy and he writes for the undefeated and he has a column now on ESPN calm Capricot called an audible and beat the NFL out of this game no matter what the league had in mind it failed, but Isn't it if he beat the NFL in his game that he would be playing so Isn't that a somewhat pure? No, he thinks the game was they wanted to put him in a situation where they would control the narrative Make him look and make it look like they gave him an opportunity and he failed He said he saw what they were doing Said no, I'm switching it and doing it under my own terms People still got a look at me one NFL executive said he had an elite arm It was impressive right and now he's still not gonna get a call Guys have an elite arm that can't play in the NFL But if you played the game Peter as much as it probably would pain him to do it because he probably hates the NFL The way he's been treated if he just played the game Then there would be more people on his side And then I think he'd have a better chance of signing a contract to play by doing it the way that he did it leaves That slither of a possibility. He doesn't think he wants to play in the NFL anymore and and the owners that are somewhat reluctant They'll probably look at him. You know what he's got another game in mind We don't want to get involved. I would have even done this. Let's say he decided I absolutely cannot sign this waiver as it stands, you notice lawyer goes you do not want to sign this part There's a reason I showed up. There's there's a reason they included it I would have not signed it and still still showed up right put out a tweet saying the NFL gave me a contract I am uncomfortable with this paragraph said what the paragraph was right. I'm not comfortable I'm still here hoping we can move forward. Let the NFL be the bad guy Let the NFL call off the workout. They have to call it off right and you called you moved at 60 miles Now they position you like you're the bad guy, right? It just it was to me. It wasn't completely thought through I think that's a great point show up and make the NFL call it off and then say, okay guys, we're gonna reconvene This place is an hour away. I'll give you guys a chance, right? But we sent back the contract We removed one paragraph. I wasn't comfortable with here's why I Still hope we can do it though and figure it out later I just won't sign that and I can't I can't speak to what's in his heart and in his mind But when he spoke he seemed very angry Very and I can understand him being ticked off He feels that something's been taken away from him But if you want to play in the NFL, you almost have to play their game Listen, it's so true the best advice I ever gotten this business. I'll be full full disclosure Michael knows in the beginning of my career at ESPN. I was not I was not happy. There were times I wouldn't go to the parties I would just be I was described. They moved me to mornings I hated it and Joey Salvia said to me don't do you want this to work or not and I said Yes, sometimes you got to play the game and he's so right sometimes you just got to play ball Now we're not so unhappy at the parties, but he's there I'm not playing the victim. This is a hundred years ago. It didn't matter I mean I was I didn't want to work mornings and I just wasn't happy with my standing Okay, and people know that and I was a big baby about it But at the end I'm a big baby and that makes you feel good to whine and complain and moan and groan But then you ask yourself that what what's my end game my end game is I want this to work So you play the game if Colin Kaepernick wants to play in the NFL Sometimes you got to play their reindeer games and get back into the NFL and you can have the last word now If you don't think you have it to make it well then don't accept it and just go and go away and do the things That you're doing, but if you really want to play in the NFL Sorry, you can't have your cake. You need it to sometimes and it stinks But you got to do it that way and you have to be real with yourself How heartbroken are you gonna be when you're 40 50, and you never never got a chance to get back on the field