Now 36 and eight years removed from his last NFL game, free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick remains interested in rejoining the league after igniting nationwide controversy by protesting during the national anthem.

‘We’re still training, still pushing,’ the former San Francisco 49ers star told Sky Sports. ‘We’ve just got to get one of these team owners to open up.’

When asked why he wants to return, Kaepernick stressed that he’s remained ready for a gridiron return.

‘It’s something I’ve trained my whole life for,’ he said. ‘So, be able to step back on the field, I think that would be a major moment, major accomplishment for me. Also, I think it’s something that I could bring a lot to a team and help them win a championship.’

Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season, when he ignited a nationwide free-speech debate by protesting racist police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem before games.

He has received some interest from NFL teams since he opted out of his contract with the 49ers in anticipation of his release in March of 2017.

Kaepernick reportedly showed a strong arm and solid conditioning at a 2022 workout with the Las Vegas Raiders, sources told ESPN at the time. The Raiders were receptive to Kaepernick and one source described the workout as a ‘positive’ although he was never added to the team’s roster.

In 2019, Kaepernick settled a grievance with the NFL for an undisclosed amount after accusing owners of blackballing him in retaliation for the controversial protests.

Although Kaepernick remains an NFL pariah, commissioner Roger Goodell admitted in June of 2021 that the league should have listened to players’ concerns about racism sooner, adding that he encouraged teams to sign the former 49ers star.

The league did orchestrate a tryout for Kaepernick in 2019, but that was scuttled after he took issue with the liability waiver the NFL asked him to sign.

Sports Illustrated obtained a copy of the NFL’s waiver, and according to a piece on SI.com by attorney Michael McCann, the league was effectively asking Kaepernick to sign away his right to sue teams in the future, regardless of whether or not they participated in collusion.

He ultimately arranged for his own workout for a handful of teams instead.

Although Kaepernick was reportedly in great shape and showed good arm strength, he did not receive any offers from NFL teams, despite his experience guiding the 49ers to three NFC title games and a Super Bowl appearance.

‘My desire to play football is still there,’ Kaepernick told USA Today in 2020. ‘I still train five days a week. I’m ready to go, I’m ready for a phone call, tryout, workout at any point in time. I’m still waiting on the owners and their partners to stop running from this situation. So I hope I get a call this offseason. I’ll be looking forward to it.’

The Los Angeles Chargers were keeping tabs on Kaepernick in 2020, according to then-coach Anthony Lynn, who described the embattled quarterback as a good ‘fit’ for his offense.

‘It would be crazy to not have him on your workout list,’ Lynn said at the time.

Lynn said that while he hadn’t spoken with Kaepernick, the former University of Nevada star ‘fits the style of quarterback for the system that we’re going to be running. I’m very confident and happy with the three quarterbacks that I have but you can never have too many people waiting on the runway.’

‘It would be something I think any team would have to explore with a talent of that caliber that is available under these circumstances,’ Lynn continued.

‘I know he has a high IQ at the position. It comes down to physical shape and his ability to do what he does. You can figure out real quick where he is in his career after an intense workout.’

Many around the NFL have become more open to his message since Kaepernick last played in the league.

The protests began with Kaepernick in 2016 as a way to address inequality and racist police brutality. Hundreds of players followed by kneeling, sitting, or raising a fist during The Star-Spangled Banner, even as Kaepernick remained unsigned.

While tensions over the protests simmered throughout the 2016 season, they boiled over in 2017 when President Donald Trump seized upon the issue at a rally in Alabama.

In the months that followed, Trump continued deriding the protests as unpatriotic, going so far as to refer to demonstrators as ‘sons of b****es.’