Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick said he still has “unfinished business” in the league as he hopes for a possible return.
During an appearance on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, Kaepernick told the hosts that he still believes he can play at a high level in the league, noting that he has been training for the past five years.
Kaepernick, who hasn’t played professional football since 2016, recently completed a workout session with former NFL wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
“What you saw here, that’s five years of training behind the scenes to make sure I’m ready and stay ready at the highest level,” Kaepernick told hosts Marshall, Johnson and Adam “Pacman” Jones. “You don’t do that if you, if you don’t have a passion and you don’t believe you’re gonna find a way on that field.”
Kaepernick also said that he hopes all 32 league clubs will look past the controversy surrounding him, noting that his dream is to play in the NFL and win a Super Bowl.
“The narrative out there was, ‘Oh, you know it’s going to be a media circus, what else comes with him?'” Kaepernick told the hosts.
“You had those dreams from when you’re a kid. I’m [gonna] be a NFL player and I’m gonna win a Super Bowl. And for me, I have unfinished business on that front,” Kaepernick added.
Kaepernick, who played professionally for the San Francisco 49ers, sparked controversy in 2016 for kneeling during the national anthem at multiple games to raise awareness on police brutality and racial inequality in the U.S.
Former President Trump referred to Kaepernick’s protest in a 2017 speech at a rally where he called on league owners to punish players who protested during the national anthem.
Kaepernick, the founder of the Know Your Rights program, has recently held a pop-up workout session last month where several NFL team officials showed up, The New York Times reported. Kaepernick, 34, still remains unsigned from an NFL team.