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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“The game will be played in his former home stadium, in the place where his protest made him a national lightning rod and a global symbol,” Adam Kilgore wrote of Kaepernick. “The social issues swirling around America’s largest sporting spectacle carry distinct echoes of what prompted his actions and what led to his exile. And yet he remains outside 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 U.S. and wondered about his voice amid outrage against the Trump administration’s policy on illegal immigration after two deadly incidents involving federal agents in Minnesota.
The story garnered immense reaction on X.
While the examination of Kaepernick’s protest was looked at glowingly, the statements he’s made in his post-playing career went largely untouched in the story other than a mention about the books he co-authored with his wife, the ESPN documentary with Spike Lee that was shelved and his involvement in the Know Your Rights campaign.
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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, which was canceled last second in favor of one that he put on with his team.
In 2020, Kaepernick called for abolishing police and prisons in an essay published on Medium. A book released through his self-titled publishing company also called for a world “without & beyond policing & prisons” a year later.
He then appeared in a Netflix documentary that likened 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 while walking through a staged NFL practice field. “Before they put you on the field, teams poke, prod, and examine you searching for any defect that might affect your performance.”
“No boundary respect,” Kaepernick, who earned over $40 million during his time in the NFL, continued. “No dignity left intact.”
Kaepernick has maintained that he’s staying ready for another NFL shot. He will be 39 in November.
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