There once was a Japanese imperial officer who continued to fight World War II for nearly three decades after Japan had already surrendered.
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick hasn’t quite reached that duration of futility, but it’s clear he’s planning to make a run for that record.
Kaepernick’s girlfriend, radio host Nessa Diab, all but confirmed his Sisyphean intentions with TMZ Sports.
When approached on the New York City street by the outlet, she was asked if Kaepernick is “still training” for an NFL comeback.
“All day, every day,” Diab enthusiastically responded. “Nothing has changed.”
“Is he still wanting to play [in the NFL]?” TMZ asked in follow-up.
“Of course he is,” Diab responded. “It’s all up to the teams [and] if they’ll let him.”
Well, far be it from this humble writer to disagree with the mother of Kaepernick’s child, but no, it’s really not up to the NFL teams.
The NFL is a meritocracy, first and foremost — and perhaps to a fault, if you look at the number of active and retired NFL players with all manner of disturbing allegations.
And no, you can’t scapegoat MAGA for this one, given that President Donald Trump has literally said that he thinks Kaepernick should play in the NFL if he “deserves it.“
No, Team Kaep, it’s exactly what Trump hinted at: It’s really up to the 37-year-old quarterback (who would turn 38 early into this coming NFL season) and whether or not he’s an NFL-caliber quarterback.
And from every indication, both past and recent, he’s not.
The last time we saw Kaepernick as an actual NFL player, the then-29-year-old San Francisco 49ers quarterback was benched for journeyman Blaine Gabbert on a dismal 2-14 team in the 2016 season.
That last year of actual NFL playing time saw Kaepernick post high-end backup quarterback numbers, where his 16 touchdown-4 interception counting stats were offset by his poor 59.2 percent passing (most modern NFL quarterbacks are expected at minimum to hit 60 percent of their passes, with most good quarterbacks throwing in the mid-60’s and best quarterbacks flirting with close to 70 percent).
If that was the last relevant representation of what Kaepernick brings to an NFL product — again, eight years ago — what in the world should anyone, let alone an NFL franchise desperate enough at quarterback to give Kaepernick a glance, expect after nearly a decade of atrophy?
Training “all day, every day” doesn’t slow the progress of time, and at this point in 2025, what would be the point of an NFL team signing a bad backup quarterback? There are tons of those sorts of players out there, and plenty among them that don’t have the baggage, notoriety, or the likely media circus Kaepernick comes with (see: the above TMZ video again).
And to be clear, that also means that, yes, this writer truly believes that if Kaepernick were Tom Brady 2.0, he would be back in the NFL by now, regardless of those contemptible anthem protest trends he started by kneeling for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
But Kaepernick obviously is not Brady, and there’s simply no earthly way that he’s gotten better in his now eight-year hiatus (he last played Jan. 1, 2017) from playing professional football.
Let it go, man. The “comeback” was sad three years ago, and has only gotten sadder since.
Having your girlfriend write checks for you that your body, age, and skills clearly can’t cash is not doing your already beleaguered image any good.
