Forget all of the noise and disrespect you heard about Colin Kaepernick last year. He was the biggest winner of 2017.
Why? He didn’t get signed to a NFL team. But, he did get signed. He is the quarterback of the movement to combat the vestiges of America’s Original Sin, racism and police brutality against Black bodies.
For that work, he made the shortlist to be Time’s Person of The Year; named GQ magazine’s Citizen of the Year; received the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award; and signed a $1 million book deal with Random House, simply by calling plays in the huddle or just taking a knee. He also tweeted interest to joining Diddy to purchase the Carolina Panthers.
Kaepernik started the movement in the summer of 2016 by peacefully taking a knee during the National Anthem at NFL games to protest police brutality against Blacks. He became a free agent in March.
“I couldn’t see another ‘hashtag Sandra Bland,’ ‘hashtag Tamir Rice,’ ‘hashtag Walter Scott,’ ‘hashtag Eric Garner. At what point do we do something about it?”– Colin Kaepernick
That “something” he decided to do has generated a swarm of support and undulating blowback from some folks, including sellouts like Mike Vick, and team owners and 45, who want to pretend the repercussions of their ancestor’s actions do not continue to reverberate today. As a result, Kaepernick who earned $16 million in the 2016 as quarterback the San Francisco 49ers, has yet to receive a single offer from any NFL team.
Quarterbacking A Movement
“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words,” said philosopher Elbert Hubbard, so Kaepernick has chosen to remain silent about the movement to avoid having his words misconstrued. Instead, he relies on targeted social media commentary.
He recently tweeted about the death of Erica Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner, who died at the hands of police officers in New York City.
