Football Outsiders: Colin Kaepernick is definitely being blackballed by the NFL

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We looked at all 144 quarterbacks in NFL history who threw at least 200 passes in their age-29 season. If Kaepernick remains a free agent through the rest of this year, he will be the only quarterback in that group to not be on an NFL roster in his age-30 season. Only seven other quarterbacks out of the 144 did not throw a pass in their age-30 season, and two of them (Sam Bradford and Andy Dalton) are current projected starters for the 2017 season.

Neil Lomax and Eric Hipple missed their entire age-30 seasons due to injury. Lomax's hip caused him to retire in January 1990. Hipple, who was never a quality starter, fell out of favor as the Lions tried to get 1986 first-round pick Chuck Long going instead.

Hugh Millen was a poor starter for the Patriots in 1991 and 1992. He was traded to Dallas in April 1993 where he served as the No. 3 quarterback behind Troy Aikman and Jason Garrett. The Cowboys released Millen in November, and he signed with the Dolphins, who had lost Dan Marino (Achilles) for the season. Millen never played in a game for Miami either, and only started two more games (for an injured John Elway in Denver in 1994) in his career.

Joey Harrington was the No. 3 pick in the 2002 draft by Detroit, but only lasted four lousy years there. He replaced an injured Daunte Culpepper for Nick Saban with the 2006 Dolphins, and then tried to be Michael Vick's replacement with Atlanta in 2007. The Falcons kept him on in 2008, his age-30 season, but released him that August. He was scooped up by the Saints in mid-September to be a third-string quarterback, and was a frequent guest on the team's transactions list that season. Harrington never played in another NFL game, and the Saints released him in final roster cuts prior to the 2009 season. He never signed another NFL contract.

So with two active players, two injured players, and two lousy backups, we're really just left with Kaepernick and Bobby Hebert. In New Orleans, Hebert became one of the league's better undrafted success stories at the quarterback position. He was the primary quarterback for the first winning season in Saints' history (1987). But by 1989, Hebert was struggling, so head coach Jim Mora benched him for John Fourcade for the final three games of the season. Hebert was not happy about that, and without free agency in existence yet, his only real choice was to hold out for the 1990 season. We hear players threaten this often now, but Hebert actually went through with his holdout and missed the entire 1990 season at age 30. He eventually signed a new contract and returned to the team in summer of 1991, leading the Saints to two more playoff appearances in 1991 and 1992.

Even Hebert's story draws little comparison to Kaepernick, who is truly unique in this regard. Also, it's not like Kaepernick lucked his way into playing a lot last season like a Hugh Millen may have in 1992. Lest we forget, Kaepernick was a high second-round pick (36th overall) in 2011, and helped the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2012. Expectations have been high for him, and while he has hit a rough patch the last couple of years, that's not uncommon in NFL history either for a quarterback. Just ask Ken Anderson, who struggled in 1978-1980 (ages 29-31) before rebounding to win his only MVP and lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1981.

It has been argued this offseason that Kaepernick created this unique situation by opting out of his contract. He'd still be on a roster had he just stayed in San Francisco. That simply is not the case. New general manager John Lynch confirmed in May to Pro Football Talk that Kaepernick would have been cut had he not opted out of his deal. With new head coach Kyle Shanahan in town, the 49ers have a vision for their offense that did not include Kaepernick, not even as a backup. Weeks later, Lynch had more to say about Kaepernick in an interview with KNBR. "I think the way you could best help yourself is not to have someone talk for you, not have statements, but go sit down and give an interview and let people know where you stand because he makes a compelling case as to how bad he wants to be in the league when you talk to him," Lynch said.

So does that mean Kaepernick needs to do an interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt where he tells America how much he wants to play this season? Do they bring in Bob Costas to handle the tough questions? Please, spare us that sight. We need that interview as much as we need a prime-time game between the Bears and a quarterback of Brock Osweiler's caliber.

It is one thing for a player to look like Zack de la Rocha, but perhaps Kaepernick's career is proof that you can't actually rage against the machine and not face any consequences.

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