Sep 17, 2026 · 1h 30m
Kaepernick links NFL exclusion to unfinished athlete power
Colin Kaepernick On Being Blackballed By The NFL
Colin Kaepernick connects his protest, alleged NFL collusion, and community work to a broader argument about athletes’ untapped collective leverage.
- 1Kaepernick says his protest was aimed at racial injustice, while political and media narratives redirected attention toward the anthem.
- 2He describes continued quarterback training and the 2019 workout as efforts to challenge claims that he no longer wanted to play.
- 3His central lesson is that organized athletes still possess leverage to demand institutional change, but have not consistently used it.
Don't miss
Kaepernick identifies the missed opportunity for athletes to organize their collective leverage around concrete demands for institutional change.
The brief
Colin Kaepernick discusses the tenth anniversary of his protests, the work of Know Your Rights Camp, and why movement-building must stay rooted in community.
He recounts the path from sitting during the anthem to kneeling with Eric Reid, arguing that political and media narratives obscured the protest’s focus on systemic injustice.
Kaepernick describes the 2019 NFL workout, the confusing venue change, and his continued training as evidence that he still wanted to play quarterback.
The conversation returns to football: Jim Harbaugh’s demanding preparation, learning behind Alex Smith, and the 49ers’ playoff run that ended narrowly in the Super Bowl.
His sharpest retrospective is a challenge to athletes across sports: organized around concrete demands, they still have the collective power to force institutional change.
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