If Colin Kaepernick wants back in NFL, USFL offers most realistic path to vindication | Opinion

As Colin Kaepernick continues his renewed efforts to resurrect the football career that NFL owners took from the quarterback in 2017, the league essentially remains unmoved.

Kaepernick, who last threw an NFL pass on Jan. 1, 2017, in recent weeks has hopped from city to city, staging one independent workout after another. He has thrown to Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett. He slung balls to NFL draft prospects during halftime of Michigan’s spring game. Most recently, he showed off his arm with former NFL great Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson on the receiving end.

Meanwhile, the typically reclusive Kaepernick is now also saying the right things.

“Let me compete. You can evaluate me from there,” he said during a rare interview - given to former NFL stars Brandon Marshall, Johnson and Pacman Jones’ "I Am Athlete" podcast. “The NFL's supposed to be a meritocracy. Come in, let me compete. If I'm not good enough, get rid of me. But let me come in and show you."

It sounds so simple.

It makes too much sense.

The 34-year-old Kaepernick isn’t asking for a starting job or multi-million-dollar contract. He’s not even asking for a guaranteed spot on the 53-man roster.

So why, in a league where teams crave talent at quarterback position at a level of desperation that prompts them to cast morals to the side in some cases and give third and fourth chances to documented busts, would some organization not at least sign Kaepernick to their offseason roster?

It’s complicated, and not entirely for the reasons that you think. But Kaepernick still has one major card he can play if he so desires. The path begins outside of the NFL, and the first step will require humility. But with it comes the opportunity for Kaepernick to finally flex on all of his critics and resume his life-long dream.

NFL DRAFT: Which 10 teams have most at stake this year?

OPINION: Colin Kaepernick makes a compelling case for return to NFL. Are any teams listening?

NEVER MISS A SNAP: Sign up for our NFL newsletter for exclusive content

By now, it’s well-documented how NFL owners blacklisted Kaepernick in the offseason of 2017 after the former San Francisco 49ers starter opted out of his contract in hopes of a fresh start elsewhere. Seemingly fearful of ridicule from President Donald Trump and reaction of the right-winged, deep-pocketed sectors of the fan base, they caved to Trump’s demand to “get that son of a bitch off the field.”

Midseason injuries created quarterback needs across the league, but the Super Bowl 47 runner-up went unsigned. Offseasons came and went, and Kaepernick’s phone never rang.

The climate of the league has changed, however.

Following the killing of George Floyd, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell went on record and said, "We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all players to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the National Football League, believe that Black lives matter."

Now, few people bat an eye when players kneel during the anthem. "Black Lives Matter" and "End Racism" are painted on the backs of end zones and helmets.

Yet Kaepernick remains in exile for five years and counting.

Yes, the owners are the chief offenders, but Kaepernick isn’t entirely blameless.

You can accept him as a hero for the courageous stand he took while also acknowledging that heroes also can have flaws.

Along the way, Kaepernick has alienated individuals who, although once sympathetic to his cause, now wonder if his motives center more squarely on becoming an iconic figure than orchestrating a triumphant return to football.

Against the advice of players in leadership positions, he accepted a collusion lawsuit settlement of less than $10 million, a sum that he split with former teammate Eric Reid.

At times, he blew off fellow players and NFL Players Association officials, who attempted to use their influence to help get him back in the league.

When Goodell and league officials in 2019 arranged a staged workout in Atlanta for Kaepernick to showcase his skills to all 32 teams, the quarterback and his camp balked over the waiver he was required to sign and set up their own last-minute session outside of the city – a move that left many teams' scouts, who had flown to Atlanta and already arrived at the proposed workout facility, so exasperated that they headed to the airport and flew back home instead.

That was the closest Kaepernick has come to an NFL tryout. But instead, his wait has extended another two-plus years. Meanwhile, teams have been content to roll with options they believe pose fewer questions.

Because he rarely conducts interviews, we have never received full insight into Kaepernick’s decisions.

The "I Am Athlete" sitdown was the first football-related interview he has given in years. He explained that part of the reason behind his silence has been to prove that he can operate quietly and without being a distraction.

That approach has done nothing to shake skepticism. As Kaepernick kicked off his latest comeback efforts, multiple NFL talent evaluators, speaking to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment, said they found his timing odd and questioned his motivation.

Shortly after the workout with Lockett, news broke that Kaepernick was publishing a children’s book. That prompted the same talent evaluators – most of them people of color who were once supportive of his plight – to shrug off the latest workouts as stunts intended to help sell books.

Regardless, Kaepernick has persisted while expressing a willingness to accept a backup role.

“I know I have to find my way back in,” he told "I Am Athlete." “So if I have to come in as a backup, that’s fine. But that's not where I'm staying, and when I prove that I'm a starter, I want to be able to step on the field as such. I just need that opportunity to walk through the door."

But to multiple people within the league, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on Kaepernick, the quarterback came off as entitled and out of touch. He had an up-and-down final season in the NFL and was on his way to becoming a guy forced to compete for his role at the time that he opted out of his 49ers contract. So of course, five years later, he would have to return as a backup.

Kaepernick must walk a fine line. He must convey confidence, yes. But humility remains necessary, especially considering the polarizing effect his words and actions have.

Fair or not, for some, there’s a negative perception surrounding Kaepernick, and only he can dispel it.

Fortunately for him, there’s a path that could position him to thoroughly shatter every excuse created as to why he no longer belongs in the NFL.

That path is the newly relaunched USFL.

Birmingham’s Protective Stadium is a long way from the bright lights of the Bay Area, where Kaepernick spent all six of his NFL seasons. However, the spring football league offers a playing field against athletes of a caliber not unlike the competition Kaepernick would face in an NFL preseason game.

When Kaepernick talks about unfinished business, he might envision himself finally winning a Super Bowl after falling short in February of 2013. But no player at any position can just step right back into the highest level of competition after a five-year layoff. And no matter how good Kaepernick looks while throwing passes on air, there’s no way to truly simulate game-type action.

The backup route wouldn’t apply in the USFL, where league officials are so desperate to build a fanbase that they’d likely hand Kaepernick a starting job the day he signed.

Then, what better showcase opportunity would the quarterback have than to play actual games simulcast on NBC and FOX, where every eye in the NFL could watch his reclamation process?

Questions about marketability? Kaepernick would potentially answer that by single handedly sending ratings through the roof for a league that played in a sparsely attended empty stadium in its inaugural weekend.

If Kaepernick is as still as good as he believes he can be, he’ll shred the USFL competition. As one league scout, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on Kaepernick, told USA TODAY Sports, “If you ball, trust! We will come calling. Especially at that position.”

Now, more than ever, the road to a return presents itself for Kaepernick.

His detractors have leaned on all kinds of arguments over the last five years.

He wasn’t that good anyway.

He’s entitled.

He’ll be a distraction.

He’ll hurt marketability.

He’s too old now.

Too much time has passed.

Kaepernick has the chance to crush every single one of those notions.

He has said all he wants is an opportunity, and then he’ll take care of the rest.

If he truly loves the game, and if humility ranks among his greatest strengths, the quarterback should take his comeback quest to the USFL. There, Kaepernick will have a chance to flex on the competition and his critics while dispelling every false notion previously thrown his way, and strongarm his way back into the NFL.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Mike Jones on Twitter @ByMikeJones.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: If Colin Kaepernick truly wants NFL return, USFL might be best step