Former NFL linebacker LaVar Arrington appears to have backed former Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp’s claim that activist quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s workout with the Las Vegas Raiders was a disaster.
While Arrington did not relay firsthand knowledge of Kaepernick’s workout with the Raiders, he told Fox Sports Radio that his longtime friend and colleague Warren Sapp was not lying.
“I know Sapp pretty well… He ain’t lying,” Arrington said. “One thing Sapp is not is a ‘liar.’ If you’ve played for an organization, you know people in the organization. There’s certain places that you can get information that in other cases you wouldn’t get that information.
“Sapp played for the Raiders, and Sapp probably has a relationship with a couple people that are in the organization. If Sapp didn’t know, hear, or have a discussion with someone who was in the organization he wouldn’t have even talked about it,” he added.
Arrington noted that neither Sapp nor the interviewer, Vlad, would have talked about Kaepernick’s workout if they did not have insider information on the matter.
“The agent can say ‘well, we talked to the Raiders organization and Sapp didn’t’… well, Sapp might not have talked to the people that YOU spoke to but that doesn’t mean he didn’t speak to people in the organization who A) either knew from other evaluators what the evaluation was, or B) directly to the people who were doing the workout and got that information first hand. He’s not making that up,” Arrington concluded.
This past May, the former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had a reported workout with the Raiders, and the public has since been given few details as to how he performed beyond a brief statement from the team that “went well” and that the “door is open” for a possible contract.
On Colin Kaepernick’s workout with the #Raiders: Sounds like it went well and he impressed. The door is open…
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 26, 2022
In the subsequent weeks, rumors immediately began to spread that the workout actually went poorly and that Kaepernick had little chance of getting signed to the Raiders. Warren Sapp added fuel to that raging fire over the weekend when he told VladTV the workout was a “disaster.”
“I heard it was a disaster. I heard it was one of the worst workouts ever. I’m wondering how the hell this happened and the tape didn’t get out, right,” said Sapp.
Sapp further highlighted the suspect nature of the Raider’s secrecy on the matter, having released no video or broader statement on the subject.
Warren Sapp: Colin @Kaepernick7’s #Raiders workout was “one of the worst workouts ever.”
🎥: @vladtv pic.twitter.com/WJUghcFJMK
— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) June 23, 2022
In a statement to NBC Sports, Kaepernick’s agent Jeff Nalley rebuked Sapp’s claim, asserting that the Raiders’ said Kap “was in great shape” despite the fact he has not played professional football in six years.
“I guess Warren didn’t talk to the General Manager or the head coach,” Nalley said. “I spoke to the G.M. [Dave Zieger] several times and he said they all thought Kap was in great shape and threw the ball really well and encouraged any team to call him about the workout and he would tell them the same.”
Nalley did not say why the Raiders have not released a video of Kaepernick’s workout.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.