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Years after peacefully protesting systemic racism by kneeling during the National Anthem in an NFL game, Colin Kaepernick says not much has changed with the powerful sports league that he believes put him on a blacklist.
“I think the NFL is largely unchanged,” the former NFL QB-turned-activist Kaepernick said in a new episode of the Power Players With Brian Sozzi podcast (video above; listen in below).
Added Kaepernick, “Unfortunately, the most recent one that we saw was the race norming where they’re measuring black players cognitive ability at a lower level to be able to deny them medical benefits after their playing careers. We saw in relation to myself and other players being targeted for the protest. There is a long history of work that they’ve done there. It’s actually some of the work that Eric Reed combated while he was a part of the players’ union. So I think largely unchanged there. I think there’s a lot of phenomenal work they could be doing. I just don’t know, and don’t think they have the will to do it.”
Kaepernick is out with his memoir dubbed The Perilous Fight, chronicling his childhood right throught to the present day of being a father in the public spotlight.
Kaepernick was a standout quarterback at the University of Nevada before being drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2011. He quickly hit the national stage in 2012 when he took over as the 49ers’ starting QB and led the franchise to an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII.
His career trajectory shifted dramatically in 2016 when he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality in the United States.
Following that season, he became a free agent and remained unsigned by any NFL team, leading him to file a grievance alleging league owners colluded to keep him out. The matter was later settled.
Since exiting the league, Kaepernick has transformed into a prominent civil rights activist and entrepreneur, founding organizations like the Know Your Rights Camp and educational tech platform Lumi Story AI.
Kaepernick would like to see several changes by the NFL
“First addressing the issue of all of the players that they blackballed, all of the players that they targeted, actually addressing police brutality and police killing black folks also within their own organization, you know, mention race norming. We talk about the combine in the book. We also talk about, not in the book, but a broader conversation with them is around taxpayer dollars being used to build stadiums. So I think there’s a host of things that they could do and they’re well positioned to do. Again, I think they’re playing their own profits over the ability to go out and take any of those actions,” said Kaepernick.
