More than six years after playing his last game in the NFL, former quarterback Colin Kaepernick doesn’t think the league has made progress on racism.
The man who played 69 games for the San Francisco 49ers famously challenged Goodell’s rink authority in 2017 by kneeling during the US national anthem. In a similar vein, he was protesting the systemic racism and police brutality rampant in Uncle Sam’s country.
Initially reluctant to hear the Wisconsin native’s complaints, the NFL has since launched several initiatives in marginalized communities and has come out more vocally against racism.
But for Kaepernick, these changes are superficial.
“I haven’t seen any major changes,” he said in an interview with NPR. I think there is still a lot of work to be done. Obviously, the fact that I’ve been out of the NFL for six years shows where the league is.”
“I wouldn’t put her on a pedestal and say she had the best of intentions in the way the operation was conducted.”
Although he never ceased to be at the forefront of racial issues in the United States, Kaepernick has repeatedly expressed his desire to return to competition. He also trained with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, but failed to convince the Nevada team to give him a contract.
The 35-year-old led the Niners to the Super Bowl in 2013, but the Baltimore Ravens prevailed 34-31.
“Evil thinker. Music scholar. Hipster-friendly communicator. Bacon geek. Amateur internet enthusiast. Introvert.”