Saturday night, Colin Kaepernick and Jemele Hill spoke at the National Black Footwear Forum in Detroit, Michigan.
asserted
Kaepernick → speak → Detroit
Their conversation focused primarily on, you guessed it, racism, as well as Kaepernick’s life and upcoming memoir, "The Perilous Fight."
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you → focus → racism
OutKick reporters attended the event, which did not permit questions.
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which → attend → questions
One topic, in particular, caught our attention.
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topic → catch → attention
Hill told Kaepernick that she was struck by a story in his memoir about the time his mother wanted him to date Taylor Swift.
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him → tell → Swift
Hill and Kaepernick lamented that his mother wanted him to be with a girl like Swift, with the implication he wasn't interested in white women.
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he → lament → women
OutKick obtained a copy of Kaepernick’s new book, in which he tells that story about his mother and Swift:
"Now that I had my own car, it was time for me to embrace another teenage rite of passage: a girlfriend.
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me → obtain → passage
I started seeing a very cute Black girl named Crystal.
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I → start → girl
Right away, I noticed how different I felt with her than in my own home.
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I → notice → home
I could talk to Crystal, really talk to her, without having to explain myself; it was a remarkable discovery, being understood up front and without question.
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it → talk → question
When I visited her home, I was stunned by how warm and welcoming her family was.
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family → visit → home
I immediately felt comfortable there," he begins.
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he → feel → ?
"I asked Crystal to the homecoming dance, a formal affair involving fancy gowns, tuxedoes, and corsages.
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I → ask → gowns
We had a nice time at the dance.
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We → have → dance
When I got the official portrait from that night, featuring me and Crystal posed up in that classic, airbrushed frame, my mother hid it away in the back of a drawer.
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mother → get → drawer
"
"My mother convinced me to ask Lindsay, the daughter of one of her friends, to the next formal dance.
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mother → convince → dance
When I brought that picture home, my mother promptly plastered it on the wall for all to see.
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all → bring → wall
Lindsay was the kind of girl I should want.
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I → want → girl
"It was disappointing to me that my mother didn't seem capable of seeing who I really was.
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I → seem → me
Years later, when I was in the NFL, she told me that I should ask out Taylor Swift (long before Travis Kelce made his move) because we would be perfect together.
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we → tell → move
Crystal was also an athlete, a basketball player, and track runner so it was hard for us to find time for each other during basketball season.
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us → find → season
Oh, the horror of a mother encouraging her professional athlete son to ask out one of the most famous women in America, who was around his age.
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who → encourage → age
During multiple portions of the conversation Saturday night, Kaepernick spoke negatively about two white parents raising him.
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Kaepernick → speak → him
He repeatedly claimed that they did not understand or support his "blackness."
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they → claim → blackness
He also said they did not support his national anthem protest when it began.
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it → say → protest
How dare two parents refuse to support their son’s decision to disrespect the American flag and encourage him to date Taylor Swift?
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parents → refuse → Swift
How Kaepernick ever made it to the NFL despite this type of parenting is apparently the story of a true underdog.
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made → make → underdog
Colin Kaepernick is still upset that his mom wanted him to date Taylor Swift, a white woman.
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him → want → Swift
Of course, Hill did not challenge Kaepernick on any of these points.
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Hill → challenge → points
Rather, she opened the discussion by blaming injuries for Kaepernick’s poor play and calling on the Atlanta Falcons to consider signing him to play quarterback in 2026.
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she → open → 2026
Colin Kaepernick is still upset that his mom wanted him to date Taylor Swift, a white woman
Finally, say what you will about Travis Kelce, but Swift should be glad Kaepernick stopped taking dating advice from his white mother.
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Kaepernick → want → mother
The Aporia
