In what were his most expansive comments on the Seahawks' interactions with Colin Kaepernick, coach Pete Carroll said Thursday he wishes in retrospect the team could have found a way to sign him in 2017 or 2018.
"I regret that that didn't happen in some fashion," Carroll said of not signing Kaepernick, who has not played in the NFL since 2016, a season in which he kneeled during the national anthem while playing for the 49ers. "I wish we would have contributed to it because he deserved to play. ... I wish we could have figured that out knowing what we know now, and given him the chance because I would love to see him play for all those years."
But Carroll also said he did not think the Seahawks would sign Kaepernick now because the Seahawks like their quarterback situation, though he didn't rule out that circumstances down the road could mean the team might be interested later.
Carroll also said the Seahawks never asked Kaepernick, 32, about whether he planned to continue kneeling for the anthem when it talked to him in 2018, despite reports at the time stating the team did.
And Carroll also said he received a call on Thursday from a representative of another team about Kaepernick, which he said shows that an NFL team is interested in signing Kaepernick, though Carroll said he would not specify which team.
All of Carroll's comments came when he talked to reporters who cover the Seahawks via Zoom on Thursday in what was his first general meeting with the media since the NFL draft in April.
Since then, Seattle's history with Kaepernick _ the Seahawks are the only team known to have talked to him since 2016 _ became a much-discussed topic after NFL players joined in protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
Kaepernick spearheaded NFL player protests by kneeling during the anthem in 2016 in protest of social injustice and police brutality. The NFL last week issued a statement saying it was wrong at the time to have not encouraged players to peacefully protest, which many perceived as essentially an apology to Kaepernick.
Carroll further ignited a review of Seattle's history with Kaepernick when he talked about it on a podcast last week with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, saying "we owe a tremendous amount" to Kaepernick for taking a stand that Carroll said was courageous.
Here's a further look at what Carroll said about Kaepernick Thursday:
