HOUSTON – The mystery of Colin Kaepernick’s Thursday workout appearance in Houston has been solved. He wasn’t in town showing off his skills for NFL teams. Instead, the quarterback came to Houston to sit in the deposition of Houston Texans owner Bob McNair.

McNair officially became the first NFL owner to be deposed in Kaepernick’s collusion complaint against the NFL on Friday. The video-taped deposition took place during the morning in a Houston mid-rise office building, lasting just over two hours, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports.

During the proceedings, Kaepernick and one of his attorneys met with McNair and his legal representatives in what a Texans source said was a “cordial” exchange. The Texans source added that Kaepernick and McNair greeted each other at the start of proceedings and that the team assumed the quarterback would be sitting in for the deposition once it became aware that Kaepernick had gone through a workout in Houston early Thursday.

Colin Kaepernick was in Houston working out and attending a deposition of Texans owner Bob McNair. (AP) More

While sources for Kaepernick framed his presence at McNair’s deposition as a “face off” of sorts, a Texans source disputed that, adding that Kaepernick never spoke during the deposition and the meeting was orderly and professional.

TMZ caught a snapshot of Kaepernick leaving the deposition, wearing a black T-shirt that read “Kunta Kinte.”

Colin Kaepernick All Smiles After Legal Showdown with Texans Owner https://t.co/kCPMHBCmQS — TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) March 16, 2018





McNair became a focused target of Kaepernick’s attorneys following an NFL owners meetings in October, in which an ESPN report detailed the Texans owner addressing the roiling issue of player protests during a private meeting among owners. It was during that meeting where McNair made a reference that the NFL “can’t have the inmates running the prison.”

McNair later expressed regret for using the “inmates” analogy and said that it was not meant to refer to players. Instead, McNair said the “inmates” remark was a framing of league executives and their handling of the player protests. It is believed that a large portion of McNair’s deposition was aimed at exploring that remark, as well as the team owner’s thoughts on protesting players and why the Texans signed Josh Johnson rather than Kaepernick when injuries sidelined several Houston quarterbacks last season.

Depositions in Kaepernick’s complaint – which asserts NFL owners and executives colluded to keep him out of the league – are expected to continue over the next several weeks. Beyond McNair, a multitude of NFL power brokers are expected to be deposed, including: commissioner Roger Goodell and his wife Jane; at least two more NFL owners (the Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones and the New England Patriots’ Robert Kraft); two head coaches (Baltimore Ravens’ John Harbaugh and Seattle Seahawks’ Pete Carroll); two general managers (Ravens’ Ozzie Newsome and Seahawks’ John Schneider); and two NFL executives (executive vice president of operations Troy Vincent and senior vice president of player engagement Arthur McAfee).

More March Madness coverage from Yahoo Sports:

• After upset of Arizona, Obama gets called out

• Texas Tech’s ferocious 360 alley-oop dunk was just silly

• Rob Gray will never buy a drink in Houston again

• What’s standing between Sooners prospect and the NBA? His dad

