A decade ago, when Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem before NFL games in 2016 to protest police brutality and racial inequality, it somewhat affected his football career. According to the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, the league was a big reason behind the abrupt stall in his career.
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“I’m not gonna support an organization that one, is actively blackballing me, but two, has targeted my brothers who have been protesting as part of this as well,” Kaepernick said in an interview with NBC News. “I watch college football.”
Colin Kaepernick’s protest spanned across five months during the 2016 season. At the time, he was already five seasons into his NFL career with over 10,000 passing yards and 50 touchdowns under his name.
When the time came to take a stand against alleged oppression and discrimination against Black people, Kaepernick used his position to draw attention to the matter.
On August 14, 2016, during the first preseason game against the Houston Texans, Kaepernick began his protest by sitting on the 49ers’ bench while The Star-Spangled Banner was played. However, the actual media attention came during the third preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
When Kaepernick took the knee once again, reporter Jennifer Lee Chan snapped a picture that went viral. After the game, Kaepernick officially explained his stance.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said. “To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with m*rder.”
In the immediate aftermath of his statement, Colin Kaepernick was swarmed with public backlash. That is when former NFL player (Seahawks 2015) Nate Boyer met Kaepernick and reportedly convinced him that taking a knee is a more respectful alternative to sitting, drawing a parallel to how military personnel take a knee out of respect at a soldier’s grave.
On September 1, 2016 (Preseason Game 4 at the San Diego Chargers), Kaepernick took a knee for the very first time during the anthem, and even his teammate Eric Reid joined him. From that game till January 1, 2017, when the former 49ers QB took his last knee during a Week 17 clash against the Seattle Seahawks, the protest continued.
But after the game, when San Francisco informed Kaepernick about the move to release him, he opted out of his contract and became a free agent.
However, no NFL team ever signed him, even though he tried to make a comeback in 2019 and 2022. Although Kaepernick blames the NFL for blackballing him, commissioner Roger Goodell cleared himself of the matter.
“It’s the same thing I said before, which is each team makes individual decisions about how they can improve their team. And if they see an opportunity to improve their team I think they do it. They evaluate players, they evaluate systems and coaches, and they all make those individuals decisions to try to improve their team,” Goodell said in 2017. “It’s certainly something that I could do but it’s not something I’ve thought about.”