Colin Kaepernick is speaking out for the first time in years about the fallout from his 2016 national anthem protest against racism and police brutality. In a series of interviews with NBC News, he reveals the story behind taking a knee, which cost him his NFL career and finances, but also made him a hero to many. His memoir "The Perilous Fight" is set for release on September 15, and he will be promoting it in upcoming TV appearances. The protests have had little effect on Kaepernick's resolve, who continues to work out daily at 4:30 am and cites fatherhood as a motivator for his continued activism.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Colin Kaepernick still puts in a workout at 4:30 a.m. most days.
asserted
Kaepernick → put → a.m.
Ten years after taking a knee to stand against racism and police brutality at great cost to his career and finances, the former star quarterback is stepping back into the spotlight.
asserted
quarterback → take → spotlight
His memoir, “The Perilous Fight,” comes out on Sept. 15.
asserted
memoir → come → Sept.
And in interviews with NBC News, his first time speaking in depth about his protest’s fallout in years, Kaepernick reveals the story behind how he came to take a knee in 2016, an act that made him both a hero and a pariah, and one of the most divisive figures in the country.
asserted
him → speak → country
That, he says, helped him understand he has unfinished business in his life and cause.
asserted
he → say → life
Being a dad “increases the responsibility and urgency of the work we’re doing,” he says.
asserted
he → increase → work
He doesn’t want his daughter — or anyone else — to think he stopped fighting or that the fight was not worth it.
asserted
fight → want → ?
“I don’t want my community to watch me and have the takeaway be that if you fight for Black folks, it’s over for you,” he writes in his book.
asserted
he → want → book
More NBC News coverage of Colin Kaepernick
- Kaepernick will be the first guest on "Before & After with Lester Holt," available as soon as Sept. 7.
- Kaepernick is set to appear on "TODAY" on Sept. 16.
- Read Kaepernick's response to Jay-Z's recent freestyle rap about him on NBC News on Wednesday.
asserted
Kaepernick → set → Wednesday
Much has shifted in American politics, culture, sports and policing since 2016.
asserted
Much → shift → 2016
And much work still needs to be done, Kaepernick says, which is why he chose now to recount the decade-long odyssey that began with a quiet protest during the national anthem.
asserted
that → need → anthem
Though the years have provided perspective, Kaepernick says they haven’t dulled his displeasure with the NFL.
asserted
they → provide → NFL
The quarterback who once led the San Francisco 49ers on a Disney movie-esque run to the Super Bowl in 2012 says he hasn’t watched an NFL game since he was exiled from the league.
asserted
he → lead → league
“I’m not gonna support an organization that one, is actively blackballing me, but two, has targeted my brothers who have been protesting as part of this as well,” Kaepernick says.
asserted
Kaepernick → go → this
“I watch college football.”
asserted
I → watch → football
(NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said on multiple occasions he doesn’t believe Kaepernick was blackballed.)
asserted
Kaepernick → say → occasions
On Sept. 1, 2016, Kaepernick and his San Francisco 49ers teammate Eric Reid kneeled during the national anthem before a preseason game.
asserted
Kaepernick → kneel → game
It was not the first time Kaepernick didn’t stand.
asserted
Kaepernick → stand → ?
His protest actually began a month earlier, on Aug. 14, when he sat on the bench during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
asserted
he → begin → Banner
The idea had simmered in the months prior to the season when, he writes in his memoir, he was recuperating from surgeries.
asserted
he → simmer → surgeries
He might not have taken a knee if he hadn’t injured it first.
uncertain
he → take → it
The rehab gave him more free time than he ever had in his life.
asserted
he → give → life
And in the midst of news of police violence, Kaepernick immersed himself in literature on Black liberation, reading books such as “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” and “Black Skin, White Masks” by Frantz Fanon.
asserted
Kaepernick → immerse → Fanon
Kaepernick says he hadn’t planned the initial protest in mid-August until he heard the opening of the anthem and felt he couldn’t bring himself to stand.
asserted
he → say → himself
No one seemed to notice him sitting at first.
asserted
him → seem → ?
It wasn’t until after the 49ers’ third preseason game that Kaepernick was finally asked why he sat out the anthem.
asserted
he → ask → anthem
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche.
asserted
Kaepernick → go → Wyche
“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.
asserted
it → look → part
Kaepernick was unprepared for the response, he writes in the book.
asserted
he → write → book
After the game, he called his partner, Nessa, and mentioned the reporter’s question.
asserted
he → call → question
Well, what did you tell him?” she asked.
asserted
she → tell → him
“On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst, how hard did you go?”
asserted
you → go → 10
“I don’t know.
asserted
I → know → ?
Maybe a 4,” Kaepernick replied.
asserted
Kaepernick → reply → ?
Fans burned his jerseys.
asserted
Fans → burn → jerseys
Current and former players said he disrespected the flag.
asserted
he → say → flag
Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate, said Kaepernick “should find a country that works better for him.”
asserted
that → say → him
“This is not a four, man,” Kaepernick recalls Nessa telling him when the news blew up.
asserted
news → recall → him
Even though the story of the protest has been told countless times since 2016, Kaepernick set the record straight on one key detail: who came up with the idea to kneel in the first place.
asserted
who → tell → place
Before the Sept. 1 game, Kaepernick was approached by Reid, who wanted to support the protest.
asserted
who → approach → protest
…and 131 more, not listed.
