Stephen A. Smith has weighed in on Colin Kaepernick’s potential surprise return to the NFL at age 36.
Kaepernick has long wanted to return to football as a player, but on Wednesday it emerged that the Los Angeles Chargers have offered him the opportunity to join them as a coach.
Kaepernick is said to be considering the opportunity presented to him by Jim Harbaugh, and it’s safe to say ESPN analyst Smith thinks he should take it.
“If he (Harbaugh) wants to bring in Colin Kaepernick, great. No problem. I think Colin Kaepernick would be a good coach. I think Colin Kaepernick, if he wants the opportunity, should be the coach,” Smith said, but with one caveat.
‘What I would say is that I don’t want to hear any nonsense about him being a quarterback.
Recently, the Los Angeles Chargers offered Colin Kaepernick a coaching job.
Smith believes any talk of Kaepernick returning to the NFL as a player should stop.
Smith continued: “That ship should have sailed. Not only did it sail, it should have sailed. I know some people don’t want to say it, but I will.”
Kaepernick’s NFL career was hampered by his stance on social justice issues. After six years with the San Francisco 49ers, he has not played in the NFL since.
“Obviously by taking a knee, by calling attention to police brutality and the uncivil way that police officers and the like have treated black people and minorities in this country, he was blacklisted,” Smith said of Kaepernick’s absence from the NFL.
“He was ostracized. We know that. Nobody gets away with that. It’s absolutely true and the NFL owners should be ashamed of themselves,” Smith continued. “Make no mistake about it.”
“But it’s been eight years… and if we’re going to talk about Colin Kaepernick, we need to talk about him honestly,” Smith added.
Kaepernick’s last known NFL workout was with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022.
As teams look to find franchise cornerstones at quarterback, signing a 36-year-old is already unlikely.
Add to that the long layoff and Kaepernick’s past, and it definitely seems highly unlikely that he will ever play in the NFL again.