Harbaugh tried to revive Kaepernick’s career in 2017, hoping the former 49ers star could boost his Ravens squad.
“In that Super Bowl,” Harbaugh recalled, “he was a nightmare to defend.”
Kaepernick almost helped Jim Harbaugh win the 2013 Super Bowl, throwing for 302 yards, a TD, and rushing for 62 yards and another score before the drive stalled at the goal line, prompting Phil Simms to gush, “I’m literally mesmerized by those passes.”
John Harbaugh wanted whatever arm strength and speed Kaepernick still possessed after 2016, as Joe Flacco nursed a back injury in what would be his final year as Baltimore’s starter.
A decade after Kaepernick’s peaceful anthem protest, Harbaugh said the quarterback’s polarizing reputation didn’t deter his interest.
What drove Baltimore to chase Kaepernick in the spring and summer of 2017?
“His talent, plus inside info from my brother,” Harbaugh explained. “We talked endlessly, I’d met Kap many times, and the organization liked the fit.”
Yet that fit never produced a contract.
NBC News reports Kaepernick’s memoir says Harbaugh was “pushing” to sign him but was “shut down from above.”
An ESPN story claimed owner Steve Bisciotti balked, which GM Ozzie Newsome denied, stating, “Whoever is making those claims is wrong.”
Kaepernick’s then‑girlfriend Nessa Diab posted a meme swapping Ray Lewis hugging Bisciotti with a Samuel L. Jackson scene from “Django Unchained.”
Lewis later told Showtime, “The only thing that went bad was that image… We were about to close the deal and just wanted to hear Colin speak.”
While prepping the Giants for Dallas, Harbaugh avoided the details, but his remarks made clear he wasn’t the one who voted “No” and he’d stayed a vocal supporter despite Trump’s attacks.
In 2017 he recalled good‑natured debates with Kaepernick on politics, calling him “a great guy” and “a really good person,” and warned the league was losing a talent who could play “probably a long time.”
Kaepernick never appeared in another NFL game.
His upcoming book claims he was blackballed, and his stats suggest performance wasn’t the issue.
In Jim Harbaugh’s era, Kaepernick posted a 25‑14 regular‑season record, 4‑2 in playoffs, and 71 combined passing‑rushing touchdowns, even eliminating Aaron Rodgers twice with 769 yards and five scores.
After the Harbaugh‑Roman duo left, Kaepernick went 3‑16, yet posted 16 TDs, four INTs and a 90.7 rating, matching Tom Brady’s 1.8% interception rate and ranking second all‑time behind Rodgers.
He talked with Seattle and Baltimore; John Harbaugh wasn’t afraid to respect differing views, saying, “That’s America, that’s the First Amendment.”
Harbaugh kept Roman on staff as an offensive assistant, intending to use Kaepernick the way his brother did in San Francisco.
Just as he later leaned on Lamar Jackson starting in 2018.
“Kap would have loved our offense,” Harbaugh said. “Greg designed it, and Kap fit it perfectly with play‑action and intermediate throws his strength.”
Watching Kaepernick’s record‑setting 181‑yard playoff run, Harbaugh admitted, “It blew my mind, I was excited for my brother, but we had to study it – you can only contain it so long.”
Kaepernick wasn’t the same beast in Baltimore’s eyes, yet he was a viable starter while the Jets signed 37‑year‑old Josh McCown, who was eight years older and carried an 18‑42 record.
When asked if Kaepernick was blackballed, Harbaugh called the label “intellectually lazy” and said the situation was nuanced, still believing Kaepernick could start again.
Even at his prime, no team offered a contract; recently he was asked if the anthem protest cost Kaepernick his career and millions, and he replied, “Everyone does what they think is best… they’re trying to win, so they’ll sign anyone who can help them win.”
He added, “If you look back, the offense wasn’t common then. His options were limited by scheme, not solely by controversy.”
Harbaugh envisioned the transition from Flacco’s pocket style to the dual‑threat game that made Lamar Jackson a two‑time MVP.
He said, “If we’d signed him, we probably still would’ve drafted Lamar to have two weapons.”
The Giants coach sounded wistful, noting the missed chance to pair with a quarterback who nearly denied him a ring; in my view, the lost partnership still haunts the Ravens, and he still texts Kaepernick occasionally.
He should be remembered as a damn good football player, too.
“Bottom line: your quarterback must make plays, and Colin proved he could,” Harbaugh asserted. Will the Ravens ever revisit that missed opportunity?
A fan sits behind a Colin Kaepernick sign in 2017 during the Ravens’ home preseason game against Washington. (Rob Carr / Getty Images)