Colin Kaepernick

Colin Kaepernick (born November 3, 1987, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.) is an American gridiron football player and social activist who had success as a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers (2011–16) of the NFL but was better known for kneeling during the national anthem before games to protest racial injustice and police brutality against African Americans.

Kaepernick was raised mostly in Turlock, California, by his adoptive parents. There he attended Pitman High School, where he was a multisport athlete, excelling in football, basketball, and baseball. He earned a scholarship to play football at the University of Nevada, and he became the school’s starting quarterback during his freshman season. A prolific passer who was also adept at running the ball, Kaepernick was named the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year in both 2008 and 2010. He was selected by the 49ers in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft.

Kaepernick appeared in only three games during his rookie season in the NFL. During the 2012 season, however, the 49ers’ starting quarterback, Alex Smith, suffered a concussion in week 10. Head coach Jim Harbaugh chose Kaepernick to fill the position. With the 6-foot 4-inch (1.93-metre), 225-pound (102-kg) Kaepernick at quarterback, the 49ers finished the regular season with an 11–4–1 record and advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years. Although Kaepernick threw for 302 yards and rushed for 62, San Francisco lost by a score of 34–31 to the Baltimore Ravens.

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In 2013 Kaepernick led the 49ers to a 12–4 regular-season record. The team came up short in the playoffs, however, losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the National Football Conference championship game. The following season Kaepernick set career highs with 3,369 passing yards and 639 yards gained by rushing, though the 49ers dropped to an 8–8 record. Harbaugh departed the 49ers at the end of the 2014 season. Under Harbaugh’s successor, former defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, Kaepernick’s production declined. At midseason in 2015 he was replaced in the starting lineup by Blaine Gabbert and later suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.

It was during the 2016 NFL preseason that Kaepernick began his protests, first by sitting during the playing of the national anthem and later by kneeling when the song was played. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football,” Kaepernick commented at the time. One of his teammates, safety Eric Reid, soon joined him in kneeling. As the 2016 season progressed, other NFL players—as well as athletes in other sports—emulated their actions.

The protests made national headlines and elicited strong reactions from supporters and critics alike. Prominent politicians weighed in on the controversy, including U.S. Pres. Barack Obama, who defended Kaepernick’s “constitutional right to make a statement.” In a television appearance in September, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (the eventual winner of the 2016 presidential election) denounced the players for their “lack of respect” for the United States and suggested they leave the country. Kaepernick reportedly received death threats. On October 3 Time magazine featured a kneeling Kaepernick on its cover and cited him for prompting a national debate “about privilege, pride, and patriotism.”

Kaepernick continued his protests throughout the 2016 season and in interviews spoke out frequently against police brutality. On the field, he played well enough to reclaim his role as starting quarterback for the 49ers, but the team struggled to a 2–14 record. Kaepernick opted to enter the NFL free-agent market when the season was over. After no team offered to sign him, he filed a formal grievance accusing NFL team owners of conspiring to keep him out of the league. His filing claimed that the owners were retaliating for Kaepernick’s “advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States.” In May 2018 Reid, who had also gone unsigned after entering free agency, filed a similar grievance against the NFL. (The Carolina Panthers eventually signed Reid for the 2018 season.) In February 2019 both Kaepernick and Reid reached settlements with the NFL resolving their grievance cases. Because of confidentiality agreements, the terms of the settlements were not disclosed.

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With an eye toward a potential return to the NFL, Kaepernick accepted the league’s invitation to participate in a private workout in November 2019 in front of representatives from all 32 NFL teams. Partly because of objections to an injury waiver he was asked to sign, Kaepernick abruptly moved the proposed workout venue from an Atlanta Falcons training facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia, to the football field of a local high school. Reportedly only eight NFL teams sent personnel to observe the workout, and no offers were made. Facing criticism that Kaepernick remained a player without a team—and amid massive demonstrations following the death of an African American man, George Floyd, while in police custody—NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued an apology in June 2020, saying that the league should have listened to the concerns of Kaepernick and other protesters. Goodell later said that he would welcome Kaepernick’s return to the NFL and encouraged teams to find a spot for him.

Kaepernick received a number of honours for his efforts to raise awareness of racial inequality and discrimination, including Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award (2017) and Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award (2018). In July 2020 Kaepernick signed a partnership deal with the Disney Company to develop documentaries and other projects that focus on social justice issues.