Fandom 250: The case for Colin Kaepernick
The Fandom 250 is a list of the best fans in the world and Colin Kaepernick’s followers deserve to be toward the top.
Free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick is one of the NFL’s most popular players despite the fact he hasn’t played a down since last season.
Even though Kaepernick took a knee to protest police brutality (not the National Anthem or the American Flag) ahead of the 2016 NFL season, he took a stand.
In the process, he may have sacrificed his career to help millions. His fans will always remember what he’s done to bring awareness to something many Americans continue to ignore. He also donated close to $1 million dollars to various organizations across the country who are fighting systemic issues in their communities. He also set up his “Know Your Rights” camp in various cities across America such as Oakland, New York and Chicago. At the camps, campers were exposed to workshops on history, nutrition, economics and how to deal with police officers.
As Kaepernick’s protest grew, the NFL tried to send an all-out blitz on him by usurping his movement by whitewashing his stance on the National Anthem. Like Kaepernick has done time and time again, he sidestepped the rush and used his legs, or in this case, his platform to call out America on its s**t. Along the way, the free agent quarterback gained fans from the football field to the classroom to the police station to the reservation to the army barracks to the neighborhoods our country has left behind.
Remember when The Shadow League contributor Rob Parker wrote a column asking why Kaepernick’s fraternity [Kappa Alpha Psi] brothers hadn’t stepped up to help him? Many of them came for Parker’s head. Little did Parker know, the fraternity was the origin of Kaepernick’s activism and they still were supporting Kaepernick.
Also, what seems to get lost in the discourse is that Kaepernick is biracial and adopted. People in those demographics often question their existence and ancestry. They often look for something to have a connection with. Kaepernick used that uncertainty to fuel his passion for activism.
These folks responded by making his one of the NFL’s highest selling jerseys despite the fact he hasn’t played this season. Due to what he’s done while waiting for a call from a team, he’s put himself in the pantheon of athlete activism along with Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, among others.
Along the way, his jersey sales rivaled many of his NFL colleagues. The more people disparaged his protest, the more fans he gained. Not only have many NFL players followed Kaepernick’s lead, players from the WNBA (some of the first players to lead protests), to high school football players, to soccer players in European leagues, to the NHL and Major League Baseball have made public demonstrations.
Sportswriters, football analysts, conservative pundits and the naysayers in the White House often say that Kaepernick would be a “distraction” to any team that would sign him. These folks seem to forget he won The Len Eshmont Award, a 49ers team honor voted on by the players. The award “is voted on by the players and is given to the 49er who best exemplifies the inspirational and courageous play of Len Eshmont, an original member of the 1946 49ers team.” The aforementioned groups often downplay the fact that Kaepernick’s teammates, even the ones who disagreed with his protest, thought highly enough of him to vote to make sure he won the award.
Colin Kaepernick sacrificed his livelihood because he wanted to expose a vicious cycle in America.
His fans have watched the NFL employ substandard quarterbacks, racists and women beaters.
These folks are marching down the field and they have the NFL on its heels.