San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch joined "Gary and Larry" on KNBR Tuesday to discuss the team's offseason, recently completed organized team activities, and more. The topic of Colin Kaepernick was brought up. Earlier during the offseason, there had been rumors that the quarterback was not completely committed to playing football and was possibly more interested in being an activist.
As has been well covered, Kaepernick decided to protest the pre-game national anthem last season. "When there's significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it's supposed to represent, this country is representing people the way that it's supposed to, I'll stand," Kaepernick said last August.
Of course, Kaepernick has already stated that he would stand for the national anthem during the 2017 season should a team sign him. The Seattle Seahawks have been the only reported team that has met with Kaepernick but decided not to sign him.
Lynch was asked about Kaepernick's commitment to playing in the NFL.
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"I don't know the answer to that," Lynch said. "I would tell you, with my conversations with Colin, he is fully committed to wanting to be in this league. I also, in my private conversations -- and I won't communicate too much of what we talked about -- I will communicate that I gave that opinion to Colin myself. 'You are having a little bit of an image crisis in terms of, not so much what you did last year, but people are wondering is this most important to you at a position where the guys that succeed at that position are the guys that live it, breathe it, the CEOs that play that position?
"I think there is a perception that football is not on the top of his list. My communication with Colin was, 'Your best effort -- I think the way you can best help yourself is to not have someone talk for you, not have statements, but go sit down and do an interview and let people know exactly where you stand.' Because he makes a compelling case as to how bad he wants to be in the league when you talk to him."
You can listen to the entire interview on KNBR.
Kaepernick has played his entire career for the 49ers – the team that drafted him in 2011. This past season, the quarterback completed 59.2-percent of his passes for 2,241 yards, 16 touchdowns, and four interceptions through 11 games.
The 49ers decided against having any of the quarterbacks from the 2016 roster return this season. At the start of free agency, the team signed former Chicago Bears quarterbacks Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley. The team also selected C.J. Beathard out of Iowa in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft and signed undrafted free agent Nick Mullens out of Southern Mississippi.
