Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick has apologized for his statements earlier this week regarding free agent QB Colin Kaepernick's image.
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Vick told the Dan Patrick Show that he's sorry he said Kaepernick's play and not his national anthem protest was the reason he still hasn't been signed by an NFL team this offseason.
"What I said, I should have never said," Vick said. "I think it was taken out of context in regards to what I was trying to convey, but I only want to help Colin Kaepernick. I'm not a general manager, I'm not the guy who makes the decisions on getting him signed, and I'm truly sorry for what I said. I think I should have used a better choice of words."
Vick also said he's sorry for suggesting Kaepernick cut his hair, noting that he doesn't think it has any bearing on the quarterback's situation.
"His afro has nothing to do with him being signed and I wasn't trying to relay that message. It was more about helping him at the end of the day," Vick said.
RELATED: Colin Kaepernick harshly fires back at Mike Vick after comments over his image
On Monday, Vick appeared on FS1's "Speak For Yourself" and suggested Kaepernick cut his hair and go for more of a "clean-cut" look to display a more "presentable" image.
"First thing we got to get Colin to do is cut his hair." — @MikeVick advises Kaepernick on rebuilding his image pic.twitter.com/YENvUPOIgP
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) July 17, 2017
From that video:
"First thing we've got to get Colin to do is cut his hair," Vick said. "Listen, I'm not up here to try to be politically correct. Even if he puts cornrows in there, I don't think he should represent himself in that way in terms of just the hairstyle. Just go clean-cut. You know, why not? You're already dealing with a lot of controversy surrounding this issue. The most important thing that he needs to do is just try to be presentable."
Kaepernick responded on Tuesday with the following tweet suggesting that Vick was suffering from "Stockholm Syndrome":
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 18, 2017
Kaepernick, 29, remains a free agent after spending his first six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. The former starter gained national attention last season for his decision to kneel during the national anthem as a form of protesting social injustice.
The 37-year old Vick played in the NFL for 13 seasons, although his career was interrupted by a 21-month federal prison sentence after he was convicted of running a dogfighting ring.
Vick revealed he had also received advice to change his image during his playing career but "didn't listen until the end, until I was going through the turmoil and the hardships."
"I just think perception and image is everything. This is not the Colin Kaepernick that we've known since he entered the National Football League. I'm just going off my personal experiences. Listen, I love the guy to death. But I want him to also succeed on and off the field. This has to be a start for him," he said.
The major difference between Vick and Kaepernick though is that the latter has never been in prison for endangering the lives of animals and is a big time humanitarian off the field as well. Their situations aren't quite similar, but Kaepernick could probably learn or thing or two from Vick's off-the-field plight.
