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Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was top of mind for The Washington Post ahead of Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
Kaepernick was described in the story as Super Bowl LX’s “most relevant” figure despite the 49ers not making it and the subject of the story being out of football for nearly 10 years.
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San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Eli Harold (58), quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and free safety Eric Reid (35) kneel in protest during the playing of the national anthem before an NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi’s Stadium on October 6, 2016. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
“The game will be played in his former home stadium, the place where his protest made him a national lightning rod and a global symbol,” wrote Adam Kilgore of Kaepernick. “The social issues swirling around America’s greatest sports spectacle carry clear echoes of what prompted his actions and what led to his exile. And yet he remains out of the conversation and invisible within the confines of the NFL.”
The story continued to assess Kaepernick’s legacy after he launched a kneeling protest against social injustice in the United States and marveled at his voice amid outrage over the Trump administration’s policies on illegal immigration following two deadly incidents involving federal agents in Minnesota.
The story got huge response on X.
While the investigation into Kaepernick’s protest was hotly watched, the statement he made in his post-game career went largely untouched in the story other than a mention of the books he co-authored with his wife, the ESPN documentary with Spike Lee that was dropped, and his involvement in the Know Your Rights campaign.
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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) drops back from the pocket against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first half at Raymond James Stadium on December 15, 2013. (Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)
Kaepernick settled his lawsuit with the NFL after he accused the league of blackballing him during the 2017 offseason, preventing him from signing with a new team. He received an NFL-sanctioned tryout that was canceled at the last second in favor of one he put on with his team.
In 2020, Kaepernick called for the abolition of police and prisons in an essay published on Medium. A book published through his self-titled publishing house also called for a world “without & beyond police and prisons” a year later.
He then appeared in a Netflix documentary that compared the NFL Draft to the slave trade.
“What they don’t want you to understand is what’s being established is a power dynamic,” Kaepernick says as he walks through a staged NFL practice field. “Before they put you on the field, poke, prod and probe, look for any defect that could affect your performance.”
“No boundary respect,” continued Kaepernick, who earned over $40 million during his time in the NFL. “No dignity is intact.”
Colin Kaepernick looks fine during a private NFL practice held at Charles R Drew high school on November 16, 2019 in Riverdale, Georgia. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
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Kaepernick has maintained that he remains ready for another NFL shot. He will be 39 in November.
