With protests against police brutality and systemic racism now in their third week following the murder of George Floyd, discussions continue in NFL circles as well with debates over kneeling during the national anthem and Colin Kaepernick once again at the forefront.
Roger Goodell apologized for not listening to players on issues like police brutality and systemic racism earlier, but notably did not mention Kaepernick in his video message, leading many to call for Goodell and the league to apologize to Kaepernick directly.
Among those weighing in is Massachusetts congressman Joe Kennedy III, who is currently running for Senate against incumbent Ed Markey in the Democratic primary. Not only does Kennedy want the NFL to apologize to Kaepernick, but he wants his hometown Patriots to sign him.
"The NFL should apologize to Colin Kaepernick and the Patriots should sign him," Kennedy tweeted.
The NFL should apologize to Colin Kaepernick and the Patriots should sign him.
— Rep. Joe Kennedy III (@RepJoeKennedy) June 9, 2020Kaepernick hasn't played in the NFL since 2016 after he was essentially blackballed from the league for leading the kneeling protests. Kaepernick is now 32 years old and there are legitimate football questions about what he would look like after nearly four years away from the game, but it's still easy to envision him being better than a significant chunk of backups in the league and maybe even a few starters.
The Patriots do have questions at the quarterback position, as they're currently rolling with the unproven Jarrett Stidham, veteran backup Brian Hoyer, and undrafted free agents Brian Lewerke and J'Mar Smith.
That said, given that the Patriots seemingly didn't have much interest in other available veterans like Cam Newton and Jameis Winston, it's hard to imagine Bill Belichick would be seriously considering Kaepernick.
