Colin Kaepernick reportedly wants back in the NFL - Los Angeles Times
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Colin Kaepernick reportedly wants back in the NFL

Colin Kaepernick, right, and Eric Reid of the San Francisco 49ers kneel in protest during the national anthem in 2016.
(Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
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Quarterback Colin Kaepernick wants to return to the NFL and his agent has reached out to teams that need help at the position.

According to Chris Williams, an anchor for Sports New York, a person close to Kaepernick told him: “Colin is literally in the best shape of his life. He’s been working out five days a week at 5 a.m. for three years. He wants to play and his agent has been contacting teams in need of a quarterback.”

The Steelers, Saints, Jets and Panthers all have had injuries that have had them in the quarterback market, but if recent history is any indication, none of them will take a look at Kaepernick, who hasn’t played since 2016.

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It was during that season he began taking a knee during the national anthem. He became a free agent that offseason and no team signed him or has shown any interest in him since then.

Pity party

Christian Yelich, who broke his right kneecap after fouling a pitch off of it last week, said he had a “pity party” for himself that same night.

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In the aftermath of the injury, he remembers being in a crowded room and seeing the X-ray of his kneecap go up on the lightboard.

“If you see the X-ray, you don’t need a doctor to tell you that it’s broke,” Yelich told MLB.com “I knew way before the game was over that it was a wrap.”

Yelich will miss the rest of the season, including the playoffs if the Milwaukee Brewers go that far.

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“It’s the first time I’ve broken anything in my life or had a real injury,” Yelich said. “It seems to be one of those things that’s not fair at the moment. Trust me, I had my pity party that night at the stadium and I felt terrible.... Trust me, I wish I could have an impact on this race or if we make the playoff, participate in that. But it’s not going to happen. So there’s no point in dwelling on it or letting it get you down.”

He hated the Giants too

Former Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito has a memoir coming out soon, and in it he writes that he rooted against the San Francisco Giants when they were in the 2010 postseason. “Big deal,” you might be thinking, since everyone hates the Giants (even Giants fans, they just don’t want to admit it). Well, it was a big deal, because Zito was actually playing for the Giants when he was rooting against them.

Zito was bitter because he had a poor season in 2010 and was left off the postseason roster.

“It was really hard to admit ... I rooted against the team because my ego was in full control and if we lost then I could get out of there.... It would a) prove they couldn’t do it without me, and b) take me out of the situation because I was so miserable coming to the field every day. I was so deep in shame. I wanted out of that situation so bad.”

Zito also said he ruined his relationship with his best friend, then-Giants closer Brian Wilson, who was a key component in the Giants’ postseason run that year.

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“He became the most famous guy in baseball while my career was tanking, and I literally couldn’t handle it,” Zito writes. “I pushed him away.”

Zito went 9-14 with a 4.15 ERA for the Giants that season. He was in the fourth year of a seven-year, $126-million deal.

And yes, the Giants won the World Series that year, but let’s never bring that up again.

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