Ten years after kneeling during the national anthem in a preseason game, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick stated in an interview with BBC Sport that he would repeat the protest despite losing his NFL career. The 2016 demonstration against racial injustice and police brutality sparked a nationwide debate, leading to his departure from the league after he became a free agent in 2017.
Kaepernick Knelt During National Anthem to Protest Oppression
Kaepernick knelt during the United States national anthem across 11 games in 2016 while playing for the San Francisco 49ers, bringing the Black Lives Matter movement directly to professional football. “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 after the initial demonstration. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”
The gesture drew intense national scrutiny, with criticism notably coming from Donald Trump during his presidential campaign. In 2017, Kaepernick entered free agency and went unsigned by any NFL franchise, despite having led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in the 2013 season and throwing 16 touchdown passes in his final year. Team owners rejected the quarterback over the anthem demonstrations, ending his career on the field.
Reflections on the Cost of Protest
A decade after the initial controversy, Kaepernick told BBC Sport that he was aware of the professional consequences when he decided to kneel. “I knew that the protest could cost me my career… Without a doubt I would do it again,” he stated. He added that while he anticipated the professional backlash, he did not foresee the scale of support or the organized opposition against the movement.
Intersection of Sports and Politics
Addressing critics who argue that sports and politics should remain separate, Kaepernick dismissed the separation as hypocritical. “They are very hypocritical, because politics is an intrinsic part of sports,” he told BBC Sport, noting that taxpayers fund NFL stadiums and team owners frequently support political candidates. “So trying to present this as if sports were not political, in many ways it seems ridiculous and divorced from reality.”
Kaepernick also criticized the FIFA decision to award Donald Trump a peace prize, describing the former president as a leader who attempts to use sports for personal popularity. Pointing to instances where Trump was booed at sporting events, Kaepernick noted that such crowd reactions reflect a political climate where the majority of the country disagrees with those administrations, adding that fans should continue reacting accordingly during public events.
