Inside Mike Florio's Weird Obsession With Colin Kaepernick

Colin Kaepernick last played in the NFL on January 1, 2017 -- over seven years ago. Yet he remains a chief character on Mike Florio's ProFootballTalk blog.

What relevance does Kaepernick provide to an up-to-minute sports site in 2024?

Hardly any. But that fact hasn't stopped Florio from trying to force the former quarterback into the news cycle.

The Los Angeles Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh as head coach on Wednesday. Mike Florio used the news to pressure Harbaugh to hire Kaepernick as part of his coaching staff.

"Will Colin Kaepernick be offered a spot on Jim Harbaugh’s coaching staff?" Florio unpromptedly asked.

At least he didn't suggest the Chargers should sign Kaepernick to play football.

We thought he might.

Florio has campaigned for Kaepernick's return for years, despite the hilarity of suggesting a quarterback who hasn't played in nearly a decade could provide any on-field value.

-- "Colin Kaepernick, with time to knock off the rust and prepare, would be better than any option the Seahawks, Panthers, and Texans currently have. He'd be better than any QB (sorry TuAnon) that the Dolphins currently have. He'd possibly win the job in Atlanta, too," Florio said last season.

-- "Sorry, but I'm not pushing here, or anywhere, the propaganda about all the money that the NFL has thrown at "social justice" when it took Colin Kaepernick more than five years to even get a tryout," he said in another post.

-- "Here’s one thing I think we can all agree on: A Raiders jersey with number 7 on the front and back and Kaepernick on the name plate would become a fairly hot commodity," read another.

Mike Florio even chastised the USFL spring league for not signing Kaepernick during its debut:

OutKick asked Florio about his fixation on Kaepernick in a text message exchange on Thursday, with the following request for comment:

"Mike, why do you keep bringing Kaepernick up?

"Do you do it for clicks? Political gain? Relationships? A favor? Or do you actually think he’s the best candidate? I wanted to reach out before writing about it. Thank you.

Florio did not provide an on-the-record response.

We didn't expect he would. Grifters rarely do.

Of course, we already know what's behind his coverage of Kaepernick.

Florio -- because of his very checkered past of bigoted blog posts brought to attention by Clay Travis and Jason Whitlock -- has steered his online persona toward pandering to football fans who feel their favorite athletes face oppression.

He hopes to make amends for his past. He hopes Black Twitter and the LGBTQ Mafia can forgive him.

Hence why he wouldn't acknowledge the nine-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fan whom Deadspin falsely accused of wearing blackface late last year.

And why he apologized for upsetting Lamar Jackson in December for picking his team to lose a football game.

And why Florio advocates for Kaepernick's return to the NFL but ignores that he starred in a Netflix documentary likening the NFL to a plantation.

Remember this?

"Before they put you on the field, teams poke, prod, and examine you searching for any defect that might affect your performance," said Kaepernick.

"No boundary respect. No dignity left intact."

Kaepernick says the NFL treated him like a slave -- a slave with a $110 million contract, that is. Now, he wants to return. And Mike Florio is his simp.

Ultimately, PFT's coverage of Kaepernick is mutually beneficial.

Florio keeps Kaepernick relevant by portraying him as a victim of vile white owners.

In the process, Florio tries to show the industry how racially sensitive he is and how much he's changed.

So expect the random, sycophantic blog posts about Kaepernick to continue.