Nov. 3 marks Colin Kaepernick’s 32nd birthday. Despite his clear intent to return to the NFL for the first time since the 2016 season, no team had him on its roster on this day. Not the Bears, whose “franchise quarterback,” Mitchell Trubisky, completed 10 of 21 passes for 125 yards and looked as overwhelmed as he has through most of the season. Not the Jets, whose “franchise quarterback,” Sam Darnold, threw one of the worst interceptions of the 2019 season and let an errant snap go right over his head for a safety. Not the Titans, whose backup-turned-starter, Ryan Tannehill, turned into a pumpkin after two decent starts in a row.
No, Kaepernick was not on an NFL roster Sunday, despite the truth of the matter — on any given Sunday, he’s better than at least a quarter of the league’s quarterbacks.
So, how did Kaepernick, the known activist and human rights advocate, spent his special day? Per TMZ, he spent it at Tent City in Oakland with his girlfriend, Nessa Diab, handing out backpacks filled with snacks, socks, air quality masks, shampoo and other items that can add a much-needed element of healthy and dignity to lives that have taken bad turns.
In addition, Kaepernick hired a food truck to come out and feed the people in this Tent City — all on his own dime.
The NFL has seen fit to shun Kaepernick despite his athletic potential, and it’s easy enough to point to his activism as the reason for this. Regardless of that reason, it’s an embarrassment that he’s not in the league — but it’s also a statement about his commitment to purpose that he spent his own birthday helping those less fortunate.
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar has also covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”
