Colin Kaepernick hasn’t watched a single NFL game since the 2016 season, and he’s not about to start now. In a rare interview with NBC News, Kaepernick flat out said he won’t support an organization he believes is “actively blackballing” him and other players who protested racial violence. It’s been 10 years since he first took a knee, and his stance on the league has clearly not softened.
Blackballed and Over It: Kaepernick’s Unwavering Message
Kaepernick’s message is clear and cuts deep: he believes the NFL is targeting players who speak out. He told NBC News, “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.” Instead of NFL Sundays, he’s tuning into college football. It’s a powerful statement from a player who has been out of the league for nearly a decade but whose impact is still felt. He revealed it was teammate Eric Reid who first suggested taking a knee on September 1, 2016, as a form of protest. While some believed a former Green Beret, Nate Boyer, came up with the idea, Kaepernick clarified that Boyer met with them, suggesting other ways to protest. Kaepernick says he immediately rejected Boyer’s idea of bowing his head while standing, and the conversation turned to kneeling.
The Fallout, the Distraction, and That Seahawks Moment
The reaction to Kaepernick’s protest was immediate and intense, both inside and outside the NFL. Within the league, a player group chat got heated, and get this, our own **then-Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman** reportedly told Kaepernick he “shouldn’t tell players how to protest.” Yeah, the Legion of Boom era was a wild time for a lot of reasons! Outside the game, the criticism piled on, from then-Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg calling the protest “dumb” to Donald Trump famously wishing owners would fire protesting players. Fans even burned Kaepernick’s jersey. But Kaepernick says that all the noise about the method of protest was just a distraction. He put it bluntly: “The conversation that was being had is taking a knee is more problematic than Black people being killed. Just simply put, ‘Hey, we need to talk about taking a knee. This is urgent. We need to resolve this.’ But another Black person gets killed, and it’s like, ‘Oh well, that’s kind of normal.’”
Kaepernick’s interview is a stark reminder that even a decade later, the conversation around player protests, racial justice, and the NFL’s role in it all is far from over. His unwavering commitment to his message, even at the cost of his career, continues to resonate. It makes you wonder how much this story still shapes the league, and what it means for any player today who wants to use their platform to speak out.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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