Kaepernick, ten years after first kneeling, says he would 'absolutely do it again'

Mixed · 2Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, told BBC Sport in his first interview with the broadcaster since 2016 that he would "absolutely do it again", ten years after he first knelt during the US national anthem. 1 2 Mixed · 2He knelt in September 2016 as a peaceful protest against racial injustice and police brutality, having first sat during the anthem. He repeated the gesture before 11 regular-season games that year. 1 2 Centre · 1Kaepernick said he knew the protest could cost him his career. He cited the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King as evidence that the consequences of protest can be far worse. 1

Mixed · 2The protest was seen as heroic by many and inspired other NFL players to follow. Others condemned it as disrespectful to the military. Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate, called it "a terrible thing" and unpatriotic, and said players who refused to stand should be fired. 1 2 Mixed · 2Kaepernick opted out of his 49ers contract in March 2017, and the club later said he would have been released anyway. He never found another team, despite having led San Francisco to the 2013 Super Bowl and having thrown 16 touchdowns in his final season. 1 2 Mixed · 2He filed a grievance alleging that NFL owners had conspired not to hire him because of his protests. It ended in a financial settlement in 2019. The BBC adds that the NFL arranged a private workout that year, which he declined in favour of his own session open to the media. The league later admitted it was "wrong for not listening to players earlier". 1 2

Mixed · 2After George Floyd's murder in 2020, taking the knee spread across sport, including to England's men's and women's football teams. Kaepernick called this "humbling" and said there is still a lot of work to do on racism in the UK and more broadly. 1 2 Mixed · 2Kaepernick accepts that athlete activism has slowed. He said the world is in a moment that "demands protests more than ever", and blamed the quieter mood on efforts by the NFL, the Trump administration and corporate entities. The BBC notes that several players across five clubs stayed standing when Premier League players knelt in October's No Room for Racism campaign. Kick It Out said the gesture "still has value" and that it understood players' frustration at the pace of change. 1 2 Centre · 1Asked about those who say sport and politics should be kept apart, Kaepernick said such arguments "ring hollow and feel very hypocritical". He pointed to taxpayer-funded stadiums and owners who back political candidates. In the BBC interview he also said it was "great to see" Trump booed at sporting events and called Fifa's award of a Peace Prize to Trump "regrettable". 1

Mixed · 2Now 38, Kaepernick has published a memoir, The Perilous Fight, about his childhood as the adopted son of a white family and his development as an activist. He supports community groups through his Know Your Rights campaign. GB News reports that he keeps up his playing-era fitness routine in case a return to the NFL arises. 1 2