Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is set to participate during an in-game throwing exhibition at the University of Michigan football's spring game this upcoming Saturday.
Angelique S. Chengelis of The Detroit News first reported that Kaepernick would be competing in the halftime exhibition and Newsweek was able to confirm this reporting.
David Ablauf, the director of communications for the University of Michigan football team, told Newsweek that Kaepernick will participate in a halftime event where he will be throwing to "a few undrafted free agents/retired receivers." According to Ablauf, the event is being sponsored by Michigan's Wolverine Against Racism student organization.
The news of Kaepernick participating in the exhibition marks the quarterback's first in-game appearance since suing the NFL and eventually reaching a settlement with the league. Kaepernick previously played for the San Francisco 49ers and made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick became a free agent at the start of the 2017 NFL season and accused the league of colluding against him signing with a team.
In 2019, Kaepernick and former NFL safety Eric Reid reached a settlement with the NFL following the lawsuit.
"For the past several months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Reid have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the NFL," Kapernick's attorney Mark Geragos and the NFL said in a joint statement in 2019, according to ESPN. "As a result of those discussions, the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances. The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement so there will be no further comment by any party."
Despite reaching a settlement with the NFL, Kaepernick has remained unsigned by any NFL team.
In November 2019, the NFL announced that it would hold an open workout for Kaepernick where he could perform in front of all 32 teams, but the quarterback decided to change locations of the workout just hours before it was scheduled to start, resulting in several teams not attending.
In addition to participating in the half-time exhibition, Kaepernick was also named the honorary captain for the University of Michigan's Maize and Blue Spring Game.
The University of Michigan Football Twitter account also posted pictures of Kaepernick with the team's head coach Jim Harbaugh. Prior to becoming an NFL free agent, Kaepernick spent four seasons playing under Harbaugh, while he was the coach of the 49ers. Kaepernick led Harbaugh and the 49ers to the 2013 NFL Super Bowl, where they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
