Aug 26, 2026 · 1h 7m
NFL pressure turned Kaepernick’s protest into a fight over power
How the NFL crushed Colin Kaepernick’s protest | Bomani Jones & Howard Bryant
The episode shows how a protest about racial injustice became a test of labor solidarity, institutional control, and who gets to belong in American football.
- 1The NFL framed Kaepernick’s exclusion as a football question while opposition to his protest consolidated across the industry.
- 2Trump’s attacks pushed player demonstrations into a labor dispute, exposing tensions between solidarity, paychecks, and team ownership.
- 3The 2019 workout revealed that Kaepernick’s possible return was also a struggle over agency and institutional power.
Don't miss
Kaepernick’s independent 2019 workout turns a proposed NFL tryout into a public struggle over agency and institutional control.
The brief
Bomani Jones and Howard Bryant revisit the aftermath of Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 anthem protest, asking how the NFL turned dissent into a question of employability.
They argue that Kaepernick had no conventional redemption path because he had committed no offense requiring an apology; the dispute centered on racial injustice and belonging.
Donald Trump’s attacks on protesting players transformed the controversy into a labor issue, prompting demonstrations while owners balanced player loyalty, business interests, and patriotic ritual.
The Players Coalition directed money toward criminal-justice work, but the hosts debate whether NFL-controlled structures and fragmented leadership limited its political power.
The 2019 workout moved from an NFL-arranged test to an independent event, exposing a larger struggle over agency and extinguishing hopes of a genuine return.
The episode’s broader conclusion is that institutional power did not merely exclude Kaepernick; it redirected public attention from police violence to whether he deserved a job.
Books & mentions
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