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Colin Kaepernick training 'every day' for NFL comeback, per report

ProfilePhotoby: Nick Geddes04/20/25NickGeddesNews
Colin Kaepernick
Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Colin Kaepernick last appeared in an NFL game Jan. 1, 2017. It’s been over eight years, yes, but Kaepernick is still holding out hope that one day, an NFL team will sign him.

If that opportunity ever arises, Kaepernick will be ready. Nessa Diab, his longtime partner, recently told TMZ Sports that Kaepernick is still training for an NFL comeback.

“All day, every day,” Diab said of Kaepernick’s training. “Nothing has changed. Nothing.”

Kaepernick, 37, has long believed he’s been blackballed from the league after kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. At the time, Kaepernick was 29 years old, coming off a 2016 season in which he threw 16 touchdowns to four interceptions. The San Francisco 49ers went 1-10 in his 11 starts that season. Just four years prior, Kaepernick had led the 49ers to the Super Bowl.

Kaepernick was invited to a Seattle Seahawks workout in 2020 and again in 2022 for the Las Vegas Raiders. Neither team signed Kaepernick. He also threw to undrafted receivers at halftime of Michigan‘s 2022 spring game for NFL scouts. Kaepernick was invited by then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who coached him in San Francisco.

Colin Kaepernick still chasing NFL comeback

Then came September 2023, when Kaepernick wrote a letter to former New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas asking for an opportunity to be signed to the team’s practice squad. Kaepernick sent the letter 10 days after Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Again, no offer came.

Harbaugh, now head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, made overtures to Kaepernick about joining his coaching staff for the 2024 season. Harbaugh later said his staff was full, leaving Kaepernick unemployed from an NFL team.

Over the duration of his six-year career, Kaepernick notched a record of 28-30, while throwing for 12,271 yards, 72 touchdowns and 30 interceptions on 59.8% passing. He accumulated 2,300 yards on the ground and scored an additional 13 rushing touchdowns.