Lawyer says an NFL owner admitted to changing mind on signing Colin Kaepernick after Trump's comments
- Colin Kaepernick's lawyer claims to have testimony from an NFL owner confirming that they decided not to sign Kaepernick following comments from President Trump.
- Such testimony, Kaepernick's lawyer, Mark Geragos, believes, is enough to prove collusion in a civil suit.
- Geragos also claimed to have extensive depositions proving that NFL executives view Kaepernick as a starting quarterback and have not signed him due to the national anthem protests.
In an appearance on the sports law podcast Straight Aim, Colin Kaepernick's lawyer Mark Geragos said he has testimony from an NFL owner that proves there was collusion against the quarterback.
According to Geragos, an NFL owner testified under oath that when he was told about President Donald Trump's comments about the national anthem protests - implicitly from another NFL owner - those comments pushed him to change his mind about signing Kaepernick. Geragos believes that will be enough to prove collusion in a civil lawsuit.
Geragos also claimed to have, via deposition, plenty of evidence that Kaepernick remains unsigned primarily due to his national anthem protests and fears of a backlash from Trump.
"All the evidence we've developed, and mind you we've done probably 15 depositions so far . . . and in this civil case, there's no doubt, that existing coaches, and I'm talking about Super Bowl-winning coaches, have testified under oath that he's a starting quarterback in this league," Geragos told host Amy Dash.
"When you ask them, and specifically, 'Why isn't he being hired?' and they say 'Because of the national anthem policy.'"
"The only reason, and the owners will admit this, that they haven't signed him, is they're afraid of Trump, and they've colluded because of Trump," Geragos said.
Furthermore, Geragos also strongly hinted that a legal challenge would be mounted to the NFL's controversial new national anthem policy.
"Absolutely there's going to be a challenge to the policy," Geragos said.