Roger Goodell has urged NFL teams to sign up Colin Kaepernick—three seasons after he last played pro football as teams shunned him for his police-brutality protests. The NFL commissioner said during ESPN’s “The Return of Sports” special on Monday that he wants the 32-yea- old quarterback to make a comeback. “If he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it’s gonna take a team to make that decision. I welcome that, support a club making that decision and encourage them to do that,” Goodell said. Kaepernick was with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016 when he began to kneel during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. He became a free agent after that season and hasn’t played in a game since. Goodell also said that, even if Kaepernick doesn’t want to play again, he can have a role with the NFL to help the league combat racial inequality. “If his efforts are not on the field but continuing to work in this space, we welcome him to that table and to help us, guide us,” said the commissioner.
