Published • loading... • Updated
‘Decades in Sports’: How Colin Kaepernick taking a knee in 2016 revived athlete activism in sports
The protest cost Kaepernick his NFL career and spread to the WNBA, NBA, MLB, NHL and women’s soccer, officials and athletes said.
- On September 1, 2016, former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during 'The Star-Spangled Banner' before a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers, stating he would not show pride in a country that oppresses Black people and people of color.
- The protest followed the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in 2016, fueling national racial tensions after the Black Lives Matter movement gained prominence following George Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal in the Trayvon Martin case.
- Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called the protest a "terrible thing" during an interview with KIRO in Seattle, while Kaepernick faced boos in stadiums and death threats. Sports journalist Sam Farmer noted "the whole country was wrapped up in this controversy."
- Athlete activism spread rapidly across the NBA, WNBA, and NFL throughout 2016 and 2017, as players including Eric Reid, Bruce Maxwell, Megan Rapinoe, and J.T. Brown joined the movement across multiple sports.
- Despite his NFL career ending after 2017 when he became a free agent, Kaepernick's protest ushered in a new era of athlete activism that gained global momentum following George Floyd's murder in May 2020.
Insights by Ground AI
11 Articles
11 Articles
Coverage Details
Total News Sources11
Leaning Left1Leaning Right0Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution90% Center
Bias Distribution
- 90% of the sources are Center
90% Center
C 90%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
