Las Vegas Raiders owner supports Colin Kaepernick’s potential NFL return and says he would welcome him to the team “with open arms.”
Mark Davis, 66, said in an interview with NBC Sports for an episode Race in America: A Candid Conversation:
“Listen, I believe in Colin Kaepernick, and he deserves every chance in the world to become a quarterback in the National Football League. I still stand by it. If our coaches and general manager want to bring him in or want him to be the quarterback on this team, I would welcome him with open arms.”
“I think Colin is a very misunderstood human being,” Davis continued. “I’ve gotten a chance to talk to him. I never really knew Colin, and I didn’t understand him. I didn’t understand the kneeling, what that meant initially. Over time, I have learned a little bit more about it.”
“I understand [now] where he was coming from. He’s got a message for society as a whole,” he added.
Kaepernick, now 34, has been out of the NFL since 2016, following his demonstration, kneeling while the national anthem played. The former quarterback has expressed his desire to return to the NFL before.
On a recent I Am An Athlete podcast episode, Kaepernick said, “I know I have to find my way back in. So if I have to come in as a backup, that’s fine,” Kaepernick said. “But that’s not where I’m staying. And when I prove that I’m a starter, I want to be able to step on the field as such.”
He added, “I just need that opportunity to walk through the door.”
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The Raiders have a new general manager, Dave Ziegler, and a new head coach, Josh McDaniels. They were both pulled from the New England Patriots earlier this year.
They signed Derek Carr as the team’s starting quarterback to a three-year, $121.5 contract extension. The contract runs through 2025, so we will see if Kaepernick gets his wishes granted.
