It remains to be seen whether Colin Kaepernick will ever play in another NFL game, but league commissioner Roger Goodell says that he would like to him play again.

"If he wants to resume his career in the NFL, that's obviously going to take a team to make that decision, but I welcome that, support a club making that decision, and encourage them to do that," Goodell told ESPN on Monday. "If [Kaepernick's' efforts are not on the field, but [he continues with his social activism efforts], we welcome him to that table and to be able to help us, guide us and help us make better decisions about the kinds of things that need to be done in communities.

"We have invited [Kaepernick] in before and we want to make sure that everybody is welcome at that table, and to try and help us deal with some very complex and difficult issues that have been around unfortunately for a long time.

"But I hope that we're at [a] point now where everybody is committed to making long-term sustainable change."

The 32-year-old Kaepernick last played in the NFL in 2016 when he was a member of the San Francisco 49ers. That season, Kaepernick become the face of a movement that saw NFL players choosing to kneel during the playing of the U.S. national anthem in protest of police brutality and racial inequality.

Many people, however, perceived the decision made by Kaepernick and other players as engaging in disrespectful behavior towards the American flag or simply exhibiting a lack of patriotism in general. Whether in agreeance with that line of thinking, or perhaps wanting to avoid the bad publicity involved with potentially signing Kaepernick, the face of the players' movement, the former 49ers quarterback has gone unsigned since he become a free agent after the 2016 season.

In November of last year, Kaepernick performed football drills in front of some NFL personnel from around the league in a workout organized by the league that drew criticism from some people because of the unorthodox way the opportunity came about.