Monday on ABC’s “The View,” former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick said the NFL owners kept him from playing after his kneeling protest because of their politics.
Co-host Ana Navarro said, “Just just six months after you started protesting, you say you were forced to opt out of your contract with the 49ers and you were never picked by another team again. You sued the NFL for collusion, claiming that team owners were intentionally keeping you out. They denied this, and it ended in a confidential agreement, though. So now as you look back, what do you think was the reason that not a single team would give you a chance to play for them?”
Kaepernick said, “I think it was political. I also think it was power. I think the reality is one, I think it’s important context, I didn’t protest the NFL, so their response to the protest is very informative in relation to where they stand politically. We’ve seen them donate millions of dollars to Trump in this administration. And I think the other part is the realization that the amount of support the protest had. There were also boycotts of the NFL because of their response. The NFL being approximately 70% black also means that the players, as the product on the field, have power and control over where the league goes and where they head directionally. If players unify around that, because if players spent one weekend and said, we’re not going out there until you address this, there’s no game.”
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