ode

I thought it was great that Nike used Kaepernick as their main theme in their ad campaign. Especially now that they have a contract with the NFL. Stuck it right back in the NFL's face.

Also, it needs to be repeated that Kaepernick consulted with a Navy Seal on how to honor / protest fellow young unarmed black men killed by police officers without offending the military. The Navy Seal told him that they honor fellow fallen Seals by taking a knee.

That's why he chose to take a knee. I'd like to have seen what all the drawers in a knot crowd would've done had Kaepernick copied Tommy Smith and John Carlos by raising a black gloved fist in the air instead. Their heads would've exploded.

We've come a long ways since Smith and Carlos showed the courage to protest against racial injustice. Still a long way to go unfortunately. BTW, Smith and Carlos have statues of them in a museum today, much to the dismay of the drawers in a knot crowd who want black athletes to basically "just shut up and dribble".

      How dare a young black man peacefully protest in a way I don't agree with!!! RABBLE RABBLE.

      What does he think this is? A free country?

      /get over yourselves people
      //the anthem can be celebrated, it shouldn't be worshiped

        Dufferman Dishonoring the national anthem in public is not the same as not celebrating it. He can stay off the field while it’s playing if he doesn’t like it, or he could stand and not care about it. Instead, he’s actively demeaning the country.

            johnnydoom Dishonoring the national anthem in public is not the same as not celebrating it. He can stay off the field while it’s playing if he doesn’t like it, or he could stand and not care about it. Instead, he’s actively demeaning the country.

            My take has always been that Kaepernick has a right as a US Citizen to protest or demonstrate any way he wants, but I strongly disagree that he should be allowed to do it in his place of employment while being paid. I can't think of many jobs where employees are allowed to protest/demonstrate while at work/on-the-clock. He took advantage of the NFL to push his agenda.

                Sneakylong

                I see the outrage by those who don't like athletes taking a knee as a smoke screen. Then they don't have to deal with the reason the knee is being taken (or continue to deny racial disparity exists).

                Just another line in the sand, all or nothing type thinking.....either honor flag/vets or take a knee for racial disparity. There is room for both!

                    sdandrea1 Of course he has the right. I’m just not interested in spending money on Nike or the NFL if disrespecting the flag and anthem of the USA is something they want to provide him a platform for doing.

                      Sneakylong more than one guy went with the fist in the air and some have found themselves unemployed too.

                        ode

                        Who denies racial disparity exists?

                        You are making it an either or framing it your way.

                        I don't care if CK7 took a knee or not. I don't honor the anthem in my house when its played. I use it's playing to go to the bathroom or do something else. Most people do. Even many who hammer Kaepernick for his disprespect. That is hypocrisy.

                        Like Steve said...I don't think a person should use their job to protest. I couldn't. Cowboys wanted to put a decal on their helmet to honor the 5 police officers shot and killed in Dallas. NFL said...NOPE. Kaepernick has less of a right to take a knee than Dallas did to ask for the right to display a helmet decal.

                        Prior to all of this mess I thought Kaepernick was punk. I still do. I wish ALL brutality would go away. It just doesn't happen to black people. I've witnessed it happen to both white and black. There are bad cops just like you have bad/racist co-workers.

                        Personally, I feel like a lot of people use this as a way to dishonestly feel better about themselves as if standing with Kaepernick means standing against racism and police brutality. I stand against that in my life but I don't support a guy who ran off and made millions for being the face of a cause.

                        Who watches football for social justice commentary or politics? I don't. I don't want it at a movie, at a restaurant, a play, school activities, etc. He Jemele Hill'ed his way into public conversation when it wasn't his right to do so.

                        NOTHING he did has changed anything for the better except maybe for Nike. There isn't less police brutality or racism. I'd argue he's enflamed that element to do it more and more viciously.

                            Sneakylong BTW, Smith and Carlos have statues of them in a museum today

                            Thanks to Barack Obama.

                                Toulon - don't forget the NFL nixed the special tribute cleats to be worn to honor those that perished on 9/11. This decision by the NFL was handed down several days after Kaepernick gets on his knee.

                                  Par4QC Thanks to Barack Obama, that ordered that black history museum to be built.

                                  Odd, I find this on the interwebs.
                                  "The effort to bring this museum to life began decades ago but was finally set in motion in 2003 when Bush signed a bill creating it. "

                                      Sneakylong Also, it needs to be repeated that Kaepernick consulted with a Navy Seal on how to honor / protest fellow young unarmed black men killed by police officers without offending the military. The Navy Seal told him that they honor fellow fallen Seals by taking a knee.

                                      He was told that after SITTING on the bench for the Anthem in a number of games.
                                      As someone else said, this IS a free country and you can choose what you want to do during the Anthem, on your own time. When being paid to wear a uniform, you should present yourself as your employer requests or pay the consequences. The 49er's and the NFL should have dealt with it swiftly when it first arose. I would certainly face discipline for doing that while at work.

                                        I seem to remember the NFL being all over a player for kneeling and saying a prayer after the game was over. I also find it interesting that when no cameras were around, like this past off-season, none of the NFL protesters were in the "hood" trying to make things better for anyone. And CK getting some kind of "person of the year" award for his "courage" while T.J. Watt was ignored, even after he helped to raise $37 million for disaster relief for his community - what hypocrites.

                                        Didn’t John Elway come out and say he offered Cap a job and he turned it down? So I’d say he did have at least one chance but truly wanted to be the maurder????

                                          colej Didn’t John Elway come out and say he offered Cap a job and he turned it down? So I’d say he did have at least one chance but truly wanted to be the maurder????

                                          Elway and the Broncos did offer but it would have been a pay cut I believe because of San Francisco's contract with CK. SF didn't have to cover the shortfall because CK asked to be released and Elway gave these details in a sworn deposition in CK's anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL.

                                          Also in CK's defense, he pledged $1M to charity and by all indications I could find, he met it. One of the programs he started was a clothes bank for those without the means to buy nice new clothes needed to interview for jobs. Colin doesn't seek any publicity for his charitable work. I did some research on him for my discussion group recently so I found some of these factoids.

                                              swinnea Yep, correct you are.

                                              Obama merely got the statues or story, or whatever of Carlos and Smith put in there.

                                                Toulon I'll tell you one thing that I can't stand right off the top.

                                                Whenever someone has one white parent and one black parent why are they thought of as: black?

                                                Colin Kaepernick is not black. Barack Obama was not black.

                                                Have said this for years!! And, Kaepernick was even raised by a white family from just a few months old.

                                                    mikeintopeka

                                                    Yes, he did pledge 1 million. Does anyone know if Nike fronted him the money? Few know for certain when Nike hatched this scheme to use Kaeperinick as their face. I'd like to see a breakdown of African American purchasers of Nike vs. white. You can bet Nike has an idea of the demographics of who purchases their products.

                                                    It was reported Nike wasn't certain about what to do with CK7 and thought about letting the contract with him lapse. However, the possibility exists Nike thought of this campaign years ago and fronted him the million to build his reputation so they could later cash in on it.

                                                    I always thought Kaepernick looked middle-eastern not black or white.

                                                    The commercial he appears in is a trainwreck. It tries weaving two themes... Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything. (I'll bet they wanted to use STAND FOR instead of BELIEVE IN but it wouldn't work for a kneeler) ...and...Don't ask if your dreams are crazy. Ask if they're crazy enough.

                                                    Let's get rid of police brutality, racism and Kaepernick all in one fell swoop.

                                                      Par4QC

                                                      I know right! Just like all those Native Americans getting all these benefits and they don't even live in Teepees or on Reservations! The nerve of people identifying with ancestry they never even lived! FOR SHAME!

                                                          Lets see. We must do something about crime in ethnic urban areas, but we can't use the police to enforce the laws because they might have to get physical with some people in order to enforce the law. I know, let's disrespect the country and use fictional imagery in order to drum up emotional outrage. That will fix everything.

                                                          Nothing can change. The only effect will be the continued withdrawl of law enforcement from high crime areas and an ever increasing outrage about how government won't do anything to help the poor in affected areas - and therefore it must be discrimination. Spending money and diversity education hasn't worked and more of each will not work either. At this point it's just a continuing emotional ploy for even greater redistribution of wealth.