Colin Rand Kaepernick (/ˈkæpərnɪk/ KAP-ər-nik;[1] born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and former professional football quarterback.

[7][8] Kaepernick became a free agent after the season and remained unsigned, which numerous analysts and observers have attributed to political reasons.

[13][14] His birth father, who is a black American (of Ghanaian, Nigerian, and Ivorian ancestry) and whose identity is unknown,[15] separated from Russo before Kaepernick was born.

[22] A 4.0 GPA student[24] at John H. Pitman High School in Turlock, California, Kaepernick played football, basketball and baseball and was nominated for all-state selection in all three sports his senior year.

On November 26, 2010, Kaepernick led his team to a 34–31 overtime victory against the previously undefeated Boise State Broncos, snapping their 24-game win streak that had dated back to the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl.

Nevada Head Coach Chris Ault would later call this game the "most important win in program history".

[47] Kaepernick maintained a 4.0 grade point average during his college years and graduated in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in business management.

Smith was ranked third in the NFL in passer rating (104.1), led the league in completion percentage (70%), and had been 19–5–1 as a starter under Harbaugh, while Kaepernick was considered more dynamic with his scrambling ability and arm strength.

[65] He also broke the 49ers postseason rushing record, regardless of position and joined Jay Cutler and Otto Graham in both as the only players in NFL history to run for two touchdowns and pass for two others in a playoff game.

[84] On November 21, the 49ers announced that Kaepernick would miss the rest of the season because of an injured left shoulder that required surgery.

[88] Kaepernick was coming off three surgeries entering the 2016 season,[89] needing operations on his thumb and knee in addition to the season-ending shoulder procedure.

[96] He joined Michael Vick, Cam Newton, Randall Cunningham, and Marcus Mariota as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to record at least three passing touchdowns and 100 yards rushing in a game.

[102] He planned to run the same offense which he ran the previous year with the Falcons, and did not believe that Kaepernick fit the scheme.

[105] Following his departure from the 49ers in 2016, Kaepernick went unsigned through the off-season and 2017 training camps, leading to allegations that he was being blackballed because of his on-field political statements as opposed to his performance.

According to former Raven Ray Lewis, the team did not go through with this after Kaepernick's girlfriend made comparisons of Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to a slave owner, and Lewis his slave, in a tweet;[113][114] Bisciotti reportedly believed the signing would result in heavy backlash and criticism from the general public,[115] a claim that was refuted by the team.

[9] The Seahawks set up another visit and workout with him in April 2018, but the team postponed it indefinitely after he would not say whether he would continue his national anthem protest or not.

[127] Typically, NFL teams schedule workouts for Tuesdays, when head coaches and general managers can more readily attend.

He instead moved to an Atlanta-area high school, where he held a public throwing session attended by scouts from seven NFL teams.

[130] In February 2019, it was reported that Kaepernick spoke with the Alliance of American Football and XFL about becoming a quarterback for them but wanted a guaranteed $20,000,000 per season.

[137][15] In the 49ers third preseason game of the season, reporter Steve Wyche noticed Kaepernick sitting down during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner",[137] as opposed to the tradition of standing.

[5][139] It had gone largely unnoticed that Kaepernick was also sitting during the anthem in the previous two weeks, when he was inactive and not in uniform while recovering from injuries.

[citation needed] After initial backlash against his protests, Kaepernick pledged to donate $1 million to "organizations working in oppressed communities".

[152] Inspired by Kaepernick, other NFL players and pro athletes conducted various forms of silent protests during the national anthem.

NFL spokesperson Jocelyn Moore responded to the ad saying Kaepernick's social justice campaign, "deserve(s) our attention and action".

[161][162][163] Joe Scarborough decried Nike's decision as "politically correct madness", saying that the flag should be seen as a symbol of resistance against King George III.

[168] NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell put out a statement in which he apologized for not listening to the concerns of African-American players.

"[169][170] In August, after the shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, Goodell said that he wished the NFL had listened earlier to Kaepernick's reasons for kneeling.

[173][174][175] In August 2016 Kaepernick wore a t-shirt featuring a picture of a meeting between Malcolm X and Fidel Castro and praised the Cuban Literacy Campaign.

[186][187][188] Kaepernick reportedly started dating radio personality and television host Nessa Diab in July 2015,[189] and officially went public about their relationship in February 2016.

[194] On October 29, 2021, Netflix premiered Colin in Black & White, a six-episode limited series about Kaepernick's teenage years.