Divided we sit: Colin Kaepernick’s protest

This issue of NFL players following Kaepernick’s protest is important to me because the NFL is one of my favorite sport franchises. I remember seeing Colin Kaepernick being on top of the world and playing in the biggest game of the year, Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. After being in that game in New Orleans, his career began to decline and four years later the San Francisco 49ers eventually refused to sign a new contract with him. So Kaepernick opted out.

According to SBNation.com timeline,  in August 2016, Kaepernick sat unnoticed in solidarity with groups like Black Lives Matter, who were bringing awareness to how some police officers were mistreating African Americans and minorities in the United States.  After he took a knee in full uniform, suddenly he was noticed.

Kaepernick courageously stated “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” After he said that a few players joined the protest, not enough to even count.

What incited the increase of  other NFL players and athletes across different sports participating in peaceful demonstrations when the anthem was performed were the tweeted words on Sept. 24 by President Trump. The protest then seemed to turn to freedom of expression.

Since his initial protest in 2016, it seems that NFL owners won´t even consider hiring Kaepernick to play for their teams. Now there are questions about the NFL losing money and TV ratings because some fans are refunding their season tickets and not watching NFL football anymore because of the controversy.

Since all this is happening and no team is hiring the former 49ers quarterback, he decided to sue the NFL for “collusion” because they are not letting him play. He believes it is because he stood up for an issue affecting many citizens around the United States. Like this lawsuit, Kaepernick is going to make an impact on all 32 team owners because the NFL teams are signing 39 other backup quarterbacks and leaving Kaepernick unsigned knowing he has a 90.7 passing rate during a bad 49ers team last season.  

Contributions by Jonathan Campos