ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Behind Spike Lee and a documentary film crew, amid the curious bystanders and the assortment of unemployed pass-catchers, there was a quarterback and a coach.
And Saturday afternoon, in the middle of Michigan’s annual spring football renewal, that was where everyone’s attention turned, if only for 15 minutes or so.
Not just because the coach allowed it, either. He encouraged it. Championed it, even.
Colin Kaepernick was in the Big House, and whether you think that’s a big deal or not — and whatever the reasons for feeling that way, politically or otherwise — that was the point: To see and be seen.
“A shot,” Kaepernick told the Big Ten Network during an in-game interview Saturday, when asked by sideline reporter Devin Gardner what he hoped to gain. “Just a chance, an opportunity. You know, a lot of what we’ve heard (from NFL teams) is, ‘Oh, you haven’t played in five years, can you still play?’ That’s part of the reason we’ve been doing all of these workouts publicly. … So I’m grateful that this is an opportunity that can lead to that next step, and hopefully crack that door open so I can run through it.”
And if you take a step back, you might be able to see this as more than just a publicity stunt. This wasn't simply a photo op, though the cameras certainly were rolling, as Kaepernick handed Jim Harbaugh a slip of paper — a script, actually — and then started performing, with his former coach happy to help with the choreography.
No, this was an equal-opportunity showcase, in the end. Kaepernick got some more footage, if not a foot in the door, while Harbaugh — another leading man the NFL can't find a role for anymore — got a chance to put his program in the spotlight. And probably scored some points with current (and future) Wolverine players in the process.
So in that sense, it was a win-win for both sides here, on a day the scoreboard didn’t matter at all. Except for the Michigan players on the Maize team who were left to dine on hot dogs after a 20-12 loss to the Blue team, which got to feast on steaks from The Chop House in Ann Arbor.
Looking for work
The game was the main course for the thousands of fans who showed up at Michigan Stadium, looking for a sneak preview of coming attractions from the defending Big Ten champs. And don’t let anyone tell you Kaepernick’s presence turned it into a sideshow, or that it would matter even if it did. This was a spring game, not “The Game” against Ohio State, after all.
And as halftime acts go, this was at least mildly interesting. Kaepernick had already made an appearance as an honorary captain before the game, joining some of Michigan's team leaders at the 50-yard line for the opening coin toss. He was greeted by a few boos when his name was announced, but mostly cheers.
The same was true at halftime when he reemerged from the tunnel wearing a black tank top and shorts, in spite of the 40-degree temperatures, and began warming up.
“You know this is the first time back in the cold like this in a while,” Kaepernick laughed, “but it feels great to be out here.”
What followed was a rather crisp workout, given the circumstances. As Kaepernick noted, for some of the eight receivers he was throwing to, “this was our first time running together.” But the 34-year-old quarterback looks to be in great shape, he still moves well and, he appeared to deliver throws mostly on time and on target, albeit on air, finishing the workout with a couple of well-placed deep balls.
This was the latest in a series of “public” workouts for Kaepernick over the last month or so, as he makes another push to land another tryout with an NFL team. He hasn’t played in the league since the 2016 season, when he first started kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality. The resulting backlash was intense, and though other athletes followed Kaepernick’s lead, he became the most polarizing figure. He also embraced it. Still does, which partly explains why he was here, forcing NFL scouts — grudgingly, perhaps — to do the same. (The Lions were among those represented, for what it's worth.)
Feeling Harbaugh's love
Kaepernick remains unemployed, and whether or not you believe he was blackballed by the NFL and its owners, the league did agree to settle a grievance he filed alleging collusion in 2019. No job offers followed, however, and that Kaepernick is now saying publicly he’s willing to be a backup is probably an acknowledgment that he wasn’t back then. But when asked by WXYZ-TV’s Jeanna Trotman after Saturday’s workout what message he’s trying to send to NFL teams, he didn’t hesitate.
“That I can help make you a better team,” he said. “I can help you win games. I know right now the situation likely won’t allow me to come in and step into a starting role. I know I’ll be able to work my way to that, though, and show that very quickly. To the teams that have questions, more than anything, I would say, ‘I’d love to come in for a workout. I’d love to sit down with you and have that conversation about how I can help you be a better team.’ ”
Will someone take him up on the offer, though? I doubt it, but you never know.
“Does that guy deserve a second shot?” Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said recently. “I think he does. Somewhere. I don’t know if it’s here. I don’t know where it is. I don’t know if it’s even in football.”
Harbaugh doesn’t, either, but he was eager to give Kaepernick a chance now, just like he was when the 49ers drafted him in 2011. He coached him for four seasons in San Francisco, and Kaepernick led the 49ers to back-to-back NFC championship games and a Super Bowl appearance. Then when Time magazine named Kaepernick one of its 100 Most Influential People in 2017, it was Harbaugh who penned the article, applauding “the courage he has demonstrated in exercising his guaranteed right of free speech.”
“Coach Harbaugh, he’s always been phenomenal for me,” said Kaepernick, whose workout was sponsored by “Wolverines Against Racism,” a campus group founded by former U-M track athlete Briana Nelson in the turbulent summer of 2020. “I mean, it shows who Coach Harbaugh is, when he does this for me. He’s someone that … he’s gonna fight for you. And his relationship with you goes beyond just football. He loves you as a person.”
He loves the attention, too, I suppose. Kaepernick is hardly the first celebrity to be an honorary captain here: Harbaugh has brought in Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter and Tom Brady, among others. And Kaepernick won’t be the last, especially now that Harbaugh — rejuvenated by last season’s team and its success — is acting more like the guy who returned to his alma mater in 2015 and immediately started making waves, from satellite camps to overseas team trips, sleepovers on the recruiting trail and Twitter fights with SEC coaches.
After Michigan’s spring game was over, the coach and the quarterback headed off for some more film work, with Harbaugh sitting down for an interview with Lee’s crew. They’re working on a documentary series for ESPN Films about Kaepernick’s “journey” from NFL quarterback to social-justice activist and everything that entails.
Still, when you listen to the current Michigan players talk about what it was like to have Kaepernick — a cultural icon to many of them — around the football building this past week, you get a different sense of things.
“I think it was huge that Coach Harbaugh brought him around the program,” said Olu Oluwatimi, the graduate transfer from Virginia who’ll be Michigan’s starting center this fall. “As soon as he walked in, he lit up the room. He’s energetic, he’s funny. … So it was just really good to have him around the team, honestly.”
And, honestly, that's all that really should matter to Michigan fans, though if you still get worked up about Kaepernick and what he stands for, or knelt about, that's certainly your right. This is America, after all.
But all this? This was just a friend doing a favor, really. And maybe getting something in return.
