Colin Kaepernick was notably absent from a meeting Tuesday between protesting NFL players and league owners. While Kaepernick is no longer in the league, the protests were his idea and he started it in August of last year, to draw attention to police violence, racism and inequality.
49ers safety Eric Reid, who was invited to the meeting with owners, said Kaepernick’s presence was nevertheless, felt.
“Colin is instrumental because he started the protest. he has a special place in this,” Reid said. “I hope he does get the chance to go to meetings in the future. We did talk about Colin and why we started the protest so the owners could get a feeling for why we started it”
Reid also met with Kaepernick on Monday night, and said he’s looking ready for football. Reid said his trademark biceps were in full flower and that he even chided Reid about needing to do more curls to catch up.
“He’s in good spirits,” said Reid, who also said that some Kaepernick’s original ideas were discussed in the meeting.
Kaepernick recently filed a collusion suit under the collective bargaining agreement against NFL owners on Sunday. Kaepernick was possibly the top free-agent quarterback on the market before the season started, but never received an offer from any NFL team.
Reid said he talked with Kaepernick about the grievance.
“I don’t want to talk too much out of respect for his case,” Reid said.