Colin Kaepernick on Threats He Faced, His NFL Exile, and That Jay-Z Lyric
The former NFL quarterback tells his story in a new memoir
On May 19, 2026, Colin Kaepernick addressed a crowd during The Gordon Parks Foundation Awards Dinner and Auction in New York City. Ten years prior, in 2016, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback started a protest by sitting during the national anthem at preseason games. This action led to a national debate about freedom of expression, patriotism, and more.
In his memoir, The Perilous Fight, Kaepernick explains that his protest was impromptu, with no premeditation. He shares that he sat during the anthem on August 13, 2016, after realizing that he should stand for something. Kaepernick's protest was inspired by Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, and Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who defied the status quo in their own ways.
Despite leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013 and throwing an impressive number of touchdown passes in 2016, Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since that season. In 2019, Kaepernick and former teammate Eric Reid settled a collusion lawsuit against the NFL. Recently, Kaepernick sat down with TIME to discuss his silence since the protests, his relationship with the anthem, his differences with Jay-Z, and the current state of policing in the United States.
The book delves into the racial hostility Kaepernick experienced as a child, still a secret from his white adoptive parents, to set the stage for the rest of his life story.
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