Three years ago, Colin Kaepernick was a stable quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. After Kaepernick chose to protest police brutality and racism by kneeling during the national anthem, the 32-year-old was ousted from the NFL and his contract with the 49ers expired in March 2017. The protests grew to a national level and President Trump condemned Kaepernick and called him a traitor.

In February, the league and Colin Kaepernick signed an agreement whose content has not been made public. But now, three years later, Kaepernick seems to see a light at the end of the tunnel. The NFL announced on Tuesday that it had invited the quarterback to a training session in Atlanta on Saturday. Kaepernick has said several times in recent years that he has stayed in shape and is ready for games in the league. In Atlanta, the former 49ers player would have the chance to showcase his skills to all 32 NFL teams on the field.

Chose to hold his own training

But the NFL-organized training was surrounded by doubts. Kaepernick did not find out which other players would attend and the quarterback did not get news of the practice until Tuesday, just four days before it should take place. About half an hour before the training was to be held, Kaepernick and his team announced that they would instead do their own training at a high school facility in the Atlanta area.

NFL scouts and media representatives quickly got to the new facility, across Atlanta. And what they saw seemed to have impressed them.

- His throwing arm is at least as good as when he came out of college. He is at an elite level, an anonymous NFL boss told ESPN after training.

After the pass, Kaepernick delivered a statement to the overall media corps.

"I've been ready for three years, I've been denied play for three years," Kaepernick said and continued.

- We expect to hear from Roger Goodell (NFL's top manager, editorial note), from the NFL and the 32 teams. We let you know if we hear anything. The ball is with them now. We are ready to go.