The San Francisco 49ers quarterback began his peaceful protests against systemic anti-Black racism and police brutality at the beginning of the professional season in 2016. The posture of his protest–a kneel during the national anthem, emblematic of the grief felt by Black Americans amid ongoing injustices, was meant to show respect to the militarybut still subjected to scorn by right-wing owners and politicians including, former President
Donald Trump.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Amnesty International, and other institutions for his activism, Kaepernick has not been signed by any NFL teams.
In 2017, speculations spun around the possibility of Kaepernick being signed by the Jaguars after owner