Colin Kaepernick almost certainly will not be starting NFL games this fall unless an injury somewhere along the way forces him into the lineup. However, Kaepernick - despite rumors that he isn’t that interested in football anymore and wants to pursue more social justice work instead - is still preparing like he’s going to be a starting quarterback.
In a letter to Peter King of TheMMQB.com, Kaepernick’s trainer, Josh Hidalgo, dispelled the notion that Kaepernick isn’t committed to football and said he’s been training hard with him in New York City.
“Colin has been there since January, training with me five days a week,” Hidalgo wrote. “We have been getting ready for football as if he was a starting quarterback for an NFL team. When I read that people don’t know if Colin wants to play football … this guy’s been doing it five hours a day, five days a week, like he has a starting NFL job. And we don’t take days off.”
Kaepernick remain unsigned after opting out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers earlier this year. However, the Seahawks have expressed interest in Kaepernick as a backup option behind Russell Wilson and even reportedly reached out to his agent last week.
Hidalgo said any team interested should visit Kaepernick and see for themselves the work he’s put in.
“We knew he was going to be dissected,” Hidalgo said.” We knew any chink in the armor was going to be dissected, so there are no chinks in the armor. We knew this was the be-all, end-all for us. Colin came in around 220 pounds; he lost all that weight last year because he was recovering from three surgeries. And now he’s 230, a solid 230, and he’s eating perfectly.
“I would just ask any team wondering anything about Colin: Come and see him. Come to the gym. Talk to him. They’ll see he’s in as good shape as a quarterback can be in. He’s ready to lead a team.”
The Seahawks would certainly make sense on many levels. They saw him frequently when he was at his best with the 49ers. Current backup Trevone Boykin has had continued legal issues this offseason as well.
If Hidalgo’s picture of Kaepernick’s current situation is accurate, then whatever team he signs with could be getting a solid quarterback on their roster. Given how few and far between good quarterbacks are in the league currently, the team that decides to sign him could get a steal.
