On Saturday, Colin Kaepernick was meant to conduct a workout for NFL representatives to see if the former quarterback could catch on with a team.
From the start, the process seemed a bit strange. The NFL first announced that representatives from all 32 teams would be there, then backtracked and said it didn’t know how many teams would be there, and also wouldn’t publicly be saying who would attend.
More reporting uncovered that the NFL threw together the workout hastily, giving Kaepernick only two hours to agree to appear, and then scheduled it for a Saturday, when most NFL personnel would be preparing for tomorrow’s game (and scouts would most likely be at college games).
On Saturday afternoon, another wrinkle came out. Kaepernick’s representatives announced that the workout would no longer happen at 3 p.m. at the Falcons facility, but would rather happen an hour later, at 4 p.m., at an undisclosed location.
Their reasoning for the move was that they believed the NFL had asked them to sign an “unusual” waiver, and they were confused why the league would refuse to allow any media there.
The statement said that media that requested it would be told where the workout was, and would be free to attend. It’s unclear if any NFL teams will still plan on attending, or will skip it for fear of the league having repercussions for attending a tryout not set up by the NFL.
Here’s the statement from Kaepernick’s reps:
Colin Kaepernick’s workout at the Falcons’ training facility at 3 pm is off; his workout now will be at another Atlanta location at 4 pm today.
Here is the official announcement: pic.twitter.com/d9dIfJSbY3
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 16, 2019
I don’t know the particulars of the liability waivers, and I’m not an attorney so I’m not going to guess.
UPDATE: Oh man. According to ProFootballTalk, the “unusual waiver” would have made it so Colin Kaepernick had to drop any future lawsuit over the league keeping him from signing with a team. Instead of it being a waiver in the event that he was injured, Kaepernick’s team says that the waiver would have exonerated the league from ANY employment claims.
The NFL refusing to allow media there seems bizarre, as well. If they really want to give him an open and fair shot, what difference would it make if people could watch the workout?
By demanding that it take place in secret, it sure seems to reinforce what a lot of people fear: This is merely a PR stunt, and no matter how well Kaepernick performs, the league can just say he didn’t look good and then have cover when he continues to go unsigned by teams. And with that update from PFT, it sure seems like it was a crafty legal maneuver as well.
UPDATE 4:20 p.m. ET: The workout has been moved to a local high school football field.
You can now watch a live video feed of the workout.
UPDATE 4:50 p.m. ET: The league has now issued a statement.
The NFL responds on the change to the Colin Kaepernick workout. pic.twitter.com/xfUxAGKfN8
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 16, 2019
Media waiting to get in to the high school stadium. He reportedly moved the workout here which would make the drills more media friendly. #Kaepernick pic.twitter.com/n0ocqv5b1J
— Lauren Davis (@LaurenDavisWSB) November 16, 2019
It appears that this had been set up in anticipation of NFL hi-jinx.
Given that a second workout site was set up with security preparations for Kaepernick's seamless arrival today, it's fair to assume that – at the very least – he arrived in Atlanta knowing a Saturday morning fight with the NFL was imminent. There was clearly a Plan B in place.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) November 16, 2019
UPDATE: It already appears that some NFL personnel are abandoning the workout.
2) Kaepernick's agent invited him to attend the relocated workout (which is more than an hour from the original location) less than an hour before it was due to begin. Jackson, however, is headed back to the airport.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) November 16, 2019
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