Joe Montana made an appearance on Sports Illustrated's online programming recently, and naturally there were questions about Colin Kaepernick. You can watch Montana's comments up above, but if you have any issues with video, here is what he had to say:
Well, that's usually the leader of the team in most cases. And people look to him at this point, and he's a quiet person. He doesn't share a lot, he doesn't talk to a lot of the guys. And that's difficult for the offense to operate because the communication between the quarterback and the receiver, one of the most important things. Even with your offensive line, when there's problems, you have to be able to talk to those guys and figure it out while you're out on the field. And when you have a guy who doesn't really want to be there, you don't know whether to put yourself behind him or not. And you want to believe in him, but if he doesn't want to be there...I'm sure they did everything they could to try and get him to some place he'd be happy, because it would be best for both teams.
There was a follow-up question about Chip Kelly, and how the first thing Kaepenrick did after Kelly was hired was ask for a trade. I don't think that was quite the first thing, but point still stands. Montana corrected that, pointing out that it seemed Kaepernick had issues with the front office more than anything.
We've had this discussion ad nauseam, but it was still interesting to hear Montana reference that particular point. National media repeatedly bring up the question of why Kaepernick does not want to play for Chip Kelly. They frequently ignore the issues that preceded Kelly.
But beyond that, the trade issue will hover over things for the time being. Kaepernick reported and is taking part in everything, but the trade talks remain an issue. We don't know if the trade request has been formally rescinded, although I would think something would have leaked if that had actually happened. Instead, we're left waiting for anything. What a wonderful time to be alive!