Roger Goodell says he wishes the NFL handled things differently when it comes to Colin Kaepernick.

The commissioner was asked what he would say in an apology to Kaepernick by former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho in a video series titled Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. He lamented that the league would have benefited from having a dialogue with the former San Francisco 49er.

“Well, the first thing I’d say is I wish we had listened earlier, Kap, to what you were kneeling about and what you were trying to bring attention to,” Goodell said. “We had invited him in several times to have the conversation, to have the dialogue. I wish we had the benefit of that. We never did.”

Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since 2016 – the season he began taking a knee during the national anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality – though he has long maintained a desire to return to the field. He filed a grievance against the league in October of 2017 that was settled earlier last year.

Goodell also said Kaepernick’s protest was “not about the flag.”

“These are not people who are unpatriotic. They’re not disloyal. They’re not against our military. In fact, many of those guys were in the military and they’re a military family,” Goodell said.

“What they were trying to do is exercise their right to bring attention to something that needs to get fixed. And that misrepresentation of who they were and what they were doing was the thing that really gnawed at me.”

In June, not long after footage of George Floyd’s death while in police custody sparked protests around the world, Goodell and the NFL released a video apologizing to players for not doing a better job listening to concerns about systemic racism and inequality. He also said he would support and encourage an NFL team signing Kaepernick.

The 32-year-old spent six seasons with the 49ers from 2011 to 2016, helping them reach the Super Bowl as the team’s full-time starter in 2013.