Amon-Ra St. Brown had a distinct first impression after meeting Colin Kaepernick for the first time in a downtown Los Angeles hotel resembling The Continental from the John Wick films.
“He’s taller than I thought,” the Lions’ Pro Bowl receiver said earlier this month.
That, too, is my first thought after a marble wall surprisingly opens to become the entrance to a secret room with St. Brown and Kaepernick playing a new arcade-like video game called Wild Card Football created by Saber.
“Apparently, everybody thinks I’m short,” says the 6'4" Kaepernick.
“Not short, but definitely taller than I expected,” says the 6'0" St. Brown.
Kaepernick towers behind St. Brown as the two rise from the couch to greet me before I reluctantly accept St. Brown’s invitation to play the video game, which resembles NFL Street and NFL Blitz. I’m hesitant because of St. Brown’s competitive side—he memorized the names of the 16 wide receivers (and their colleges) drafted ahead of him in the 2021 draft.
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So, of course, playing video games against St. Brown isn’t going to end well for me, but more on that later.
It’s been six and a half years since Kaepernick played in the NFL. He was the 49ers’ electric dual-threat quarterback, leading them to a Super Bowl appearance in 2013. But suddenly the league had no roster spots available for him after he protested systemic inequality and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem before games during the ’16 season.
“I was telling him earlier. [I remember] he kissed the bicep after scores,” St. Brown says. “He was like the face of the NFL at one point. It was crazy watching him play.”
With each passing year, more people wonder about Kaepernick’s physical ability, as he continues to push for an opportunity to earn an NFL roster spot.
Kaepernick, 35, says he trains five to six days a week and assures me he can still easily throw farther than 60 yards. Meanwhile, St. Brown records his third or fourth interception against me while we play the video game, which features Kaepernick on the cover.
As of early June, Kaepernick said he doesn’t have any workouts scheduled with an NFL team. Last year,he received his first workout since 2016 from the Raiders, who decided against signing him over Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens as the backups for Derek Carr.
“I’m going to keep pushing,” Kaepernick says. “I’m going to keep fighting for it because I know I can step on the field and play. Every workout, every opportunity I’ve had to show that, the feedback has always been positive. Everything from, ‘He’s still an elite player,’ to ‘The workout was great; it was better than expected.’
“When I had my workout with the Raiders last year, even training with guys, there’s a decent amount of people who may have forgotten what I was capable of doing on the field, so any chance to be able to remind people of what I can do out there, I look forward to and embrace, and I look forward to the day that I get to step on the field and show people what I can do.”
As to why the Raiders didn’t sign Kaepernick?
“I’ve heard a lot of excuses over the years,” Kaepernick says, “but most of the time it ends up, ‘Oh, we’re going to see how the guys that we have do.’ With the Raiders’ situation last year, that was Stidham and Nick Mullens, which to me, you just compare résumés and capabilities, on top of the workout and the feedback, it’s like, ‘O.K., cool.’
“Obviously, there’s something else within this decision. To me, that’s typically what it ends up being, or has been for the last seven years. So, I just want the opportunity to come in, show what I can do on the field. Judge me based upon that, not the political bias that you have.”
Kaepernick says he doesn’t watch many football games, but he did catch St. Brown and the Lions beat the Packers on Sunday Night Football in Week 18 to keep them out of the postseason. Kaepernick knows how it is to end Green Bay’s season—his 49ers beat the Aaron Rodgers–led Packers in back-to-back postseasons, averaging 245 passing yards and 139.5 rushing yards in the two playoff games.
St. Brown, 23, says he remembers watching Kaepernick and the 49ers come up short against the Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII. St. Brown was in middle school at the time.
“I played Halo,” St. Brown says after being asked which video games he prefers. “I don’t know if you guys ever played that.”
“We’re not that old,” Kaepernick responds.
While Kaepernick waits for an NFL opportunity, he continues to push for social justice and has been critical of the league in its efforts to create change in the fight against racism.
“I give him a lot of credit because he never wavered,” St. Brown says. “He never changed. He stuck to what he believed in. That’s something, as a player who’s in this league now, it can be tough at times, because there’s so much outside noise, so many people above you that have more power than you, that have different things to say, that sometimes you might not want to do what you feel is right or what you believe in. So, as a player now, looking back at it, I really respect what he did, and I think it changed a lot of things.”
Many NFL star quarterbacks have emerged since Kaepernick last played in the league. He’s noticed how many of them resemble his skill set of pairing a strong arm with mobility. It’s now become common, how the 49ers used to operate offensively with Kaepernick as the starter.
“[Patrick Mahomes] tops the list,” Kaepernick says for quarterbacks he likes to watch. “Jalen Hurts, what he did last year, really coming into his own. You look at Lamar [Jackson], Josh Allen. A lot of very talented quarterbacks out there playing at high levels. I’m excited to see them continue to do their thing, and I hope I get to stand on the opposing sideline and go toe to toe with them.”
After St. Brown crushes me 15–0 on the video game, Kaepernick delivers a message to the fans who have supported him the past decade.
“I appreciate the love and support,” he says. “We’re going to keep pushing, keep building, keep fighting, and ultimately, we’re going to create a better future for all of us.”
