Colin Kaepernick may have not played in the NFL since the 2016 season, but that hasn't hampered his dreams of being back on the field again in the future.
The 35-year-old former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has had a decorated career but, in recent years, that focus has been on his civil rights activism.
Whether or not you're an NFL fan, you'll undoubtedly have seen the media firestorm that started after Kaepernick began sitting and taking a knee during the national anthem prior to the 49ers' preseason games in the 2016 season in protest of racial inequality in the US - which eventually spread across the NFL.
Kaepernick can be seen in one particular photo sitting on a sideline bench during the national anthem ceremony. A day later, the photo went viral on social media and was picked up by local and national media outlets.
After the image of Kaepernick sitting out of the national anthem went viral in 2016, the athlete told NFL media that he had chosen not to celebrate a country that continuously oppressed Black people in America. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color," he said at the time.
"To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder," Kaepernick continued, per USA Today.
Kaepernick may have scored huge deals with sports brands like Nike, but he was unfortunately not able to sign a new deal since becoming a free agent in early 2017. He has, however, taken part in some workouts over the years, including training with the Las Vegas Raiders in May 2022.
Now, in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Kaepernick expressed his intention to one day play again for the sport, telling the outlet: "I'm going to keep pushing. 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," he added.
The father-of-one then said: "I still train for it every day. I still prepare for it every day. More than anything is trying to get someone to open the door and evaluate me based upon the merits of what I can do on the field, as opposed to it being a political issue."