July 4 is dedicated to celebrating America’s independence, but today, with our nation perhaps more divided than ever, I’d like to focus my column on unity.

In the interest of setting expectations low, let me say up front that by the end of this column I will not have liberals enrolling in Trump University or Republicans changing “Brandon” to “Biden” in their chants. I’m but a copy editor with a monthly sports column, not a miracle worker.

I’m not going to delude myself into thinking I can bring our polarized nation together. So today I will settle for deluding myself into thinking I can get people with opposing viewpoints to agree on one thing that gives either side the possibility of satisfaction — if things go the way each side seems to hope and expect them to.

That “one thing”? Colin Kaepernick going to training camp with an NFL team would be a good thing.

I see three camps on this, among NFL fans:

>> People who want Kaepernick in the league

>> People who don’t want Kaepernick in the league

>> People who don’t care whether Kaepernick is in the league

Note that I am keeping political parties/beliefs out of this, because there are some liberals who believe in Kaepernick’s cause but don’t think he is good enough to play in the NFL and there are conservatives who may not agree with Kaepernick’s contention that our nation needs to pay attention to issues such as police brutality and social inequity but who still think he should not be punished for expressing himself. And of course, there are plenty of NFL fans of both political persuasions who fall into that last category. All they want is for their teams — NFL and/or fantasy — to win, or for the games to be as good as possible.

Let’s take care of that first group right off the top since it’s the easiest. If you want Kaepernick — who got a tryout with the Raiders last month — in the league, if you believe he is worthy of a spot in the league, surely you want him in an NFL training camp. Done.

Let’s tackle these groups in ascending order or toughness to convince and skip to the last group for now.

When Kaepernick didn’t draw any interest as a free agent after first sitting and then — at the recommendation of a Green Beret — kneeling as the national anthem played before games during the 2016 season with the San Francisco 49ers, one of the arguments was that he just wasn’t any good anymore, that he was 3-16 as a starter his last two seasons and got benched for Blaine Gabbert.

Regarding that record, if your QB analysis is as simple as “The guy with the good win-loss record is better than the guy with the bad win-loss record,” I guess you don’t think football is a team sport?

To think that wins are a QB stat is to believe that Ryan Tannehill and Derek Carr are better quarterbacks than Russell Wilson, that 33-year-old Matthew Stafford improved by a historic amount between the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

None of that is to say that Kaepernick didn’t play poorly his last two seasons. Some said he was a system QB who got “figured out” by opposing defensive coordinators. One, system is a part of nearly every quarterback’s success. It’s why Tom Brady took time to adjust before earning his seventh Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers and part of why Marcus Mariota has struggled (four offensive coordinators in his five seasons as the Titans’ starting quarterback).

Most young QBs get “figured out” to an extent. The key is how they adjust. Kaepernick never had a chance to. As Football Outsiders editor Aaron Schatz noted, no other quarterback in NFL history has thrown 200 passes at age 29 and not gotten a chance to play the next season.

As a fantasy football player who had Kaepernick on my team those last two seasons, I can also assure you that injury was a huge factor. He underwent surgery on his shoulder, knee and thumb across 2015 and 2016. Those require time to heal.

NFL teams carry two to three quarterbacks during the season, so there are 64-96 QBs who spend the bulk of a given season on an NFL roster. It’s undeniable that, even with those injuries, Kaepernick was among the top 64 when he last played in the league. Look at some of the signal-callers who played last season: Mike Glennon, Brandon Allen, Tim Boyle, Garrett Gilbert.

If you like good football, you should want to see if Kaepernick can play anything like he did at his peak — when he led the the 49ers to the Super Bowl one season and the conference championship game the next. He might not be good enough to start — though it’s possible he is — but he might at least be good enough to serve as a solid backup to QBs with similar skill sets, and he’s got more upside than those four QBs and many others still on rosters.

There’s only one way to find out just how good he is now.

Which leads us to our last group, the fans who are just certain Kaepernick does not have what it takes to be an NFL QB. I ask those people: Well, then what have you got to lose? If you’ve got what you consider a sure bet, do you hope the game gets canceled? Of course not. You want them to play, so you can go to the window and collect your winnings.

There may not be a way for you to bet money that Kaepernick is washed up, but maybe you’ve been arguing with your friends and family about this, or people on social media. If you’re so sure you’re right, that he’ll look as bad out there as Tim Tebow trying to play tight end, you should want him in camp and playing in exhibitions.

It would end any further discussion about whether the NFL is still blackballing him. That issue would no longer hang over the league every time Geno Smith (possible 2022 Seahawks starting QB!) or Joe Flacco (2-11 the past three seasons!) opens a game under/behind center.

Now let’s all get together and root for Kaepernick to sign with someone. Then however it shakes out, we can move on.