Alex Smith: It’s ‘so absurd’ that Colin Kaepernick doesn’t have a job in the NFL
Washington Redskins quarterback Alex Smith is still recovering from the horrendous leg injury he suffered in 2018 — which was the subject of an ESPN documentary that premiered on Friday.
Smith talked about that injury on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” on ESPN Radio on Friday, but also addressed his time playing with Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco.
The fact that Kaepernick still doesn’t have a job in the league, Smith said, is “absurd.”
“It was hard to kind of see that trajectory because he was playing so good, and doing things nobody had done,” Smith said on ESPN Radio. “I think he still holds the single-game rushing record for a quarterback. It was crazy.
“So with that said, it was so absurd — I think equally — that it was only a few years later when you’re like, ‘This guy doesn’t have a job.’ That was hard to imagine. It still is, a guy with his ability and his trajectory that all of a sudden wasn’t playing.”
Kaepernick hasn’t played in the league since the 2016 season, when he started kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustices in the United States. He participated in a workout for teams in November, however it didn’t go according to plan. Commissioner Roger Goodell said shortly after that workout that “we’ve moved on.” Despite Kaepernick still trying to make a comeback, one doesn’t seem likely anytime soon.
Smith was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft by the 49ers, and spent his first eight seasons in the league there. He was replaced by Kaepernick during the 2012 season, his final with the team before joining the Kansas City Chiefs.
After taking over, Kaepernick threw for more than 2,600 yards and 14 touchdowns with just five interceptions in 10 starts that season, while completing 62.5 percent of his passes. While he took Smith’s job, which resulted in Smith being traded, Smith had nothing but good things to say about Kaepernick.
“Kap was a great teammate, obviously,” Smith said on ESPN radio. “I was with him his first two years, the first year as the backup and sitting and watching, and then halfway through the season he next year when he took over and rolled.
“The run he had and the ability was crazy, it’s crazy good. Certainly if you’re a guy with that kind of running ability and also be able to throw the football and making plays really in his first chunk of playing time, I mean the trajectory he was on was absurd.”
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