Colin Kaepernick just addressed the media, and thanked them for coming out. He says he and his team were seeking transparency in his workout process and felt he wasn't getting that elsewhere.
TMZSports.com
Colin then challenged Roger Goodell and the rest of the NFL teams, asking them to stop running from the truth and to stop running from the people. He added that he's ready to play, has been ready to play and is eagerly waiting from a team to call him.
Kap ended by saying the ball was in the league's court now.
2:57 PM PT -- As for the number of teams represented at Colin's new workout, it appears at first glance that only a fraction of them came out to actually watch ... at least based on who's on the ground.
A reporter snapped a shot of Colin thanking scouts from the Redskins, the Jets and the Chiefs. He reportedly thanked them for coming out and then added, "When you go back, tell your owners to stop being scared."
Kaepernick thanks scouts from Washington, New York Jets and Kansas City and says: “When you go back, tell your owners to stop being scared.”
3,846 people are talking about this
Personnel for the Eagles were also reportedly on hand, but it's unclear who else might've been out there watching. If this is it though, it's less than a quarter of the 25 reported teams that were sending folks out to watch Colin today.
2:42 PM PT -- Colin's workout appears to have just finished -- about an hour and a half after it got started. He's made his way over to a gate where it looks like he's signing autographs as the media looks on from afar.
2:00 PM PT -- The NFL just released a statement saying that Colin actually MISSED his scheduled workout, which seems to imply that whatever he's doing right now is NOT NFL sponsored.
The league goes on to say that despite its best efforts to cooperate with him and his team's ever-changing requests ... he pulled out last minute and is now going rogue on the plan. Just a few things they say they agreed to -- letting Colin bring his own receivers for his drills; allowing Coach Hue Jackson run drills for him; allowing Nike to shoot an ad featuring Colin as well as mentioning the 25 teams represented there.
The NFL responds on the change to the Colin Kaepernick workout.
304 people are talking about this
The NFL then says that after it sent a standard liability waiver to Colin to sign -- something they say they send to all free agent players coming out for a combine -- they got it back completely rewritten by Colin's camp, which the league found unacceptable.
There's more, which you can read for yourself. The NFL makes a point to say that Colin is still an unrestricted free agent and that any team is free to sign him.
1:48 PM PT -- The workout is being broadcast live, and Colin is currently warming up on the football field. He's wearing a black shirt that reads "KUNTA KINTE" and is stopping to take photos and say hello to fans periodically.
1:39 PM PT -- As Colin's workout gets underway, we've learned some interesting info as to why the location was changed in the first place -- which completely contradicts Colin's assertion that the NFL wouldn't allow the media into the Falcons practice facility.
An NFL source tells TMZ Sports that despite what Colin and his camp broadcast on Saturday with a last-minute change for what's been described as transparency purposes, we're being told Colin himself had inquired about media accessibility when these talks first got started.
We're told the implication behind Colin's question was that he didn't want media there, as our source tells us he wanted to avoid a circus-like atmosphere. In other words, we're told the league is completely baffled by Kap and his team's reasoning on changing locations.
Our source tells us point blank ... Kap could've had the media join in at the Falcons practice facility if he wanted, but we're told he never made that request to begin with.
1:24 PM PT -- Colin just showed up to his new workout location in Atlanta, which is a high school that's reportedly about an hour away from the Falcons practice facility. He rolled up in a sprinter van with a small entourage of people accompanying him.
Eric Reid -- one of Colin's good friends -- is reportedly on hand as well to show support. It also doesn't look like Hue Jackson is gonna show to run Kap through drills -- he's reportedly headed back to the airport after flying in earlier Saturday.
12:11 PM PT -- Colin's team is now saying that if the guy's still up for it, they'd like to keep the invite open for former Browns coach Hue Jackson to oversee the drills and workout Colin will now go through at the Atlanta-area school. Jackson was originally scheduled to lead Kap through QB drills at the Falcon facility -- time will tell if he'll show to the new location.
More drama!
Colin Kaepernick will NOT have his NFL workout at the Atlanta Falcons facility at 12 PM PT as planned ... but it will go down at a separate location.
According to Colin's reps, the NFL refused to allow media to observe the workout, which didn't jive with Kap.
Also, Kap's team claims the NFL wanted him to sign an "unusual liability waiver" which "rejected the standard liability waiver from physical injury proposed by Mr. Kaepernick's representatives."
"Based on prior conduct by the NFL league office, Mr. Kaepernick simply asks for a transparent and open process."
As a result, Kaepernick is moving the workout to a nearby high school and it will be open to the media.
"Mr. Kaepernick looks forward to seeing the representatives from the clubs today."
We're told Kap has a team of WRs to work with and plans on going through with the workout at 1 PM PT.
A bunch of protesters and supporters alike had gathered outside the Falcons facility to both cheer and speak out against Kap. Guessing they'll be moving to the new location as well.
Stay tuned ...
0 Yorumlar