Colin Kaepernick’s legal team reportedly wants to speak with Jane Goodell, Roger Goodell’s wife, as part of the former quarterback’s grievance case against the NFL, Yahoo reported Tuesday.
Sources have told Yahoo the lawyers for the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback hope to depose not only Goodell’s wife but three NFL owners — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, New England Patriots owner owner Robert Kraft and Houston Texans owner Bob McNair.
According to the report, they also want to speak to Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and two executives with the NFL. Kaepernick filed the grievance in October alleging the NFL and team owners colluded to keep him out of the league following his national anthem protest in 2016.
The addition of Goodell this week reportedly stems from a collection of text messages, emails and telephone records produced by the NFL to Kaepernick’s lawyers.
However, it is unclear what specifically has led to the NFL commissioner’s wife being singled out. In October, she made news after revealing that she had created a secret Twitter account to defend her husband against criticism of his handling of issues facing the league, including the anthem protests.
“It was a REALLY silly thing to do and done out of frustration– and love,” Jane Goodell explained at the time. “As a former media member, I’m always bothered when the coverage doesn’t provide a complete an accurate picture of a story. I’m also a wife and a mom. I have always passionately defended the hard-working guy I love–and I always will. I just may not use Twitter to do so in the future!”
The NFL has declined to comment on the grievance by Kaepernick.