The legal battle between Colin Kaepernick and the NFL is reportedly over. According to CBS Sports, the former San Francisco 49er quarterback and recently signed Carolina Panther Eric Reid made a confidential settlement with league this week.
Kaepernick, who hasn’t played for the NFL since the end of the 2016 season, filed a grievance against team owners for allegedly blackballing him for taking a knee during the National Anthem over a year ago.
Attorney Mark Geragos and the NFL made a joint statement on the decision.
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“For the past several months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Reid have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the NFL,” the statement read. “As a result of those discussions, the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances. The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement so there will be no further comment by any party.”
Even though the NFL made a $89 million donation to other protesting players’ causes in November 2017, Kaepernick continued his fight for justice and alleged the NFL’s 32 owners caved under political pressure and colluded to keep him out of the game.
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The NFL Players Association commented on the situation via Twitter on Friday (February 15).
“We are not privy to the details of the settlement, but support the decision by the players and their counsel,” the statement read in part. “We continuously supported Colin and Eric from the start of their protests, participated with their lawyers throughout their legal proceedings and were prepared to participate in the upcoming trial in pursuit of both truth and justice for what we believe the NFL and its clubs did to them.”
Kaepernick started his on-field protests in 2016 to raise awareness of racial injustice and police brutality in America.
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) February 15, 2019
