It was 10 years ago to the date that Colin Kaepernick, as well as his San Francisco 49ers teammate Eric Reid, kneeled during the national anthem before their preseason game against the San Diego Chargers.
The move, which was initially sitting on the bench during the anthem in August 2016 before switching to a kneel, was done to protest police brutality and racial inequality in the United States â an action that would cause Kaepernick to become one of the most divisive sports stars in the country.
Kaepernicks decision to kneel ultimately came at a cost for his NFL career, as no one team picked him up after he opted out of his 49ers contract in March 2017. He went 1-10 in his 11 starts the season before, where he was coming off a serious knee injury from the 2015 season.
Kaepernick has said on many occasions he believes the NFL blackballed him because of his kneeling protest, though the league has denied that each time. Ten years later, Kaepernick told NBC News he still believes the NFL is “actively blackballing me.”
“Im 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 told the outlet. “I watch college football.”
Kaepernick added “theres not a definitive moment that I would point to” in terms of why he believes the NFL has blackballed him. But rather, he believes, once he became a free agent in 2017 and his political and societal beliefs were out there, no team wanted him.
“Coming on the back of going to a Super Bowl, going to an NFC Championship, setting records, and not a single team would bring me in, even for a workout?” Kaepernick said.
Kaepernick still holds the NFL single-game playoff record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 181 against the Green Bay Packers, which was during the 49ers run to Super Bowl XLVII. They eventually lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31, on Feb. 3, 2013. During the 2013 season, the 49ers lost in the NFC Championship game to the Seattle Seahawks â the team that would bring him in for his only meeting during the 2017 offseason to chat about potentially signing.
Kaepernick claimed then-head coach Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider discussed his political beliefs.
“In pretty much any environment outside the NFL, would be immediate litigation,” Kaepernick added.
Kaepernick also mentioned that some coaches and GMs in the NFL did reach out as he wasnt being signed, saying “we want to bring you in, but its getting shut down above us.” He mentioned in his upcoming memoir, “The Perilous Fight,” that then-Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was among those he spoke with in 2017, with his brother, Jim Harbaugh, serving as the 49ers head coach while Kaepernick was there.
Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL in October 2017 alleging that owners were colluding to keep him out of the league. He and Reid settled their collusion grievance against the league on Feb. 15, 2019, receiving less than $10 million total. Reid was playing for the Carolina Panthers at the time.
NBC News reports a player within the league in 2016 said, “Everybody believes that he was blackballed”
