ESPN Pulls The Plug On Colin Kaepernick Documentary Series That’s Been In Development For 3 Years

ESPN has decided to pull the plug on a Spike Lee directed documentary series on Colin Kaepernick.

Though Kaepernick’s football playing days have been over for almost a decade, the controversial football player continues to train for a very improbable comeback. It’s now been over eight years since he played competitively in the NFL after many believed he was blackballed from the league because of his kneeling protests. Of course, he famously likened playing in the NFL to modern day slavery, so it’s rather perplexing that he even wants to come back.

The closest he got to a comeback – and saying that is still a stretch – is back when Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury in his first season with the New York Jets. Kaepernick wrote a letter to the Jets, saying bringing him in for a workout would be a “nothing to lose” scenario, and then pointed towards some high-level references that would be willing to back him up and talk to the Jets if they had any questions.

That list included Jim Harbaugh (Former Michigan Head Coach & Current Los Angeles Chargers), Chip Kelly (Former UCLA Head Coach & Current Raiders OC), John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens Head Coach), and Mark Davis (Las Vegas Raiders Owner). If you were wondering, that open letter never resulted in anything. His last NFL workout actually came with the Raiders in May of 2022. Kaepernick’s other big chance to return to the NFL came in 2024, when the Chargers offered the 37-year-old Kaepernick a spot on… the coaching staff.

Colin Kaepernick turned that down.

Evidently, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback still believes he has some gas left in the tank. Reports are suggesting that he’s still training to play professional football, even though the NFL has shown little to no interest in making that happen. And in another blow to the former quarterback, a docuseries that was in development at ESPN has also been shelved.

Production on the series, which was directed by the great Spike Lee, began in 2o22. It was supposed to cover his playing career, his near Super Bowl victory, and then the “blackballing” by the NFL that effectively ended Kaepernick’s career following his racial and police brutality protests. Extensive interviews with the former athlete himself would have brought never-before-seen-or-heard insight from the player who once filed a collusion grievance against NFL team owners (that was settled in 2019).

Back in September of last year, it was reported that there were delays in the documentary series. ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro also encouraged that the series be shopped elsewhere during that time. Now, almost a year later, the “worldwide leader in sports” officially pulled the plug on the project:

ESPN said this in a statement:

“ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences. Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film.”

Pretty wild that a documentary series that was being directed by an Oscar-winner in Spike Lee will never see the light of day.

Lee was asked about the shelved docuseries at a recent red carpet event, and the 68-year-old director said this about the Colin Kaepernick project:

“It’s not coming out. That’s all I can say. I can’t (talk about it). I signed a nondisclosure. I can’t talk about it.”

Bad news for people that were holding their breath waiting to hear what Colin Kaepernick had to say about the football career that he hasn’t had since 2017… all 10 of you.The post ESPN Pulls The Plug On Colin Kaepernick Documentary Series That’s Been In Development For 3 Years first appeared on Whiskey Riff.