Colin+Kaepernick 

__**Colin Kaepernick kneeling to the National Anthem **__ Back to Culture Home

About Kaepernick Colin Kaepernick was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1987. An athletic and mobile quarterback, Kaepernick attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he set several school and college records. The San Francisco 49ers drafted Kaepernick in 2011, and he led the club to Super Bowl XLVII less than two years later. After serving as a backup throughout his rookie season to the team's longtime starter, Alex Smith, Kaepernick took over as the team's No. 1 quarterback in 2012, after Smith was forced to sit out late in the year as a result of a concussion. In 2016, Kaepernick drew attention for refusing to stand for the national anthem, a form of protest that was adopted by other players and became a hot-button political topic.

Career Stats: Colin Kaepernick’s statistics over the years reads 12, 271 yards passing and 2,300 yards rushing in 69 games over six years in the NFL.
 * Summary || G || AV || QBrec || Cmp% || Yds || Y/A || TD || Int || FantPt ||
 * Career || 69 || 49 || 28-30-0 || 59.8 || 12271 || 7.3 || 72 || 30 || 1000.9 ||

What he did to stand up for oppression On August 14th, 2016, the San Francisco 49ers were going against the Houston Texans in the preseason. Colin Kaepernick sat down on the bench while his whole team was standing to show respect for the national anthem. As a note, this wasn’t the first time he kneeled. He did kneel during the two previous games, but they were unnoticed by the media. However, the 49ers organization was aware of it and did not let him play because of that. The time he kneeled was caught in a picture by Jennifer lee Chan from Niners Nation which showed the quarterback sitting on the bench in the third preseason game of the 49ers. Two days after the game, Kaepernick met up with the media and told them why he intended to do such a thing.


 * Social injustice has been a major problem of American culture since the country’s foundation and in the past several years. Colin Kaepernick kneeling as a form of protest during the national anthem launched a prevalent and debated subject on the national stage about racial inequality. This action was sparked in response to a rash of police brutality and the general victimization of people of color. Colin Kaepernick, a current unsigned quarterback in the NFL, is a celebrity who stood up for the people who were being treated unjustly. He protested crimes against African-Americans and people of color in the United States. He conducted a silent protest by simply kneeling during the national anthem before a game. Unfortunately, this caused a negative uproar because many people found this offensive and disrespectful to the country.

Additional Information...  This controversial issue has risen to extent that even the president of the United States, Donald Trump, had to tweet out regarding Colin Kaepernick. All these tensions have gotten Trump to start up rallies and speaking against the NFL players who join Kaepernick. He encourages the NFL owners to fire any player to stands against the American flag because he believes it just disrespectful to voice your opinions and stand up for the people who are being oppressed. In response to Trumps claim, the NFL fought back saying that they will not take no actions toward any NFL player for kneeling during the national anthem. On October 23, Trump tweeted out, “Two dozen NFL players continue to kneel during the National Anthem, showing total disrespect to our Flag & Country. No leadership in NFL!”. He claims that the NFL just lacks leadership because there are more than a dozen NFL players who joined Kaepernick. The NFL did have a meeting and did not set a league rule to make it an obligation to stand up for the Anthem. As a result, Players continue to protest in any way possible to get attention so that they can solve the social inequality problem and create positive change.

References [|Biography.com] [|Statistics] Bramhall, Bobby. "An Employment Stance on Taking a Knee." Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, vol. 27, no. 2, Aug. 2017, pp. 109-126. Rosenberg, Michael and Ted Keith. "Knee High." Sports Illustrated, vol. 126, no. 10, 10 Apr. 2017, pp. 21-25. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">Rosenberg, Michael. "Colin Kaepernick Has a Checklist." Sports Illustrated, vol. 121, no. 8, 9/1/2014, pp. 40-45. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">Thomas, Etan. "What Kaepernick Started." Progressive, vol. 81, no. 10, Nov. 2016, pp. 29-31. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">Harris, Jaime C. "The Curious Case of Colin Kaepernick Continues." New York Amsterdam News, vol. 108, no. 23, 08 June 2017, p. 41.