Colin Kaepernick was born in Wisconsin, to a single mother in November of 1987. At the age of four, Kaepernick was adopted into an upper-middle class family, and moved across the country to suburban Southern California. Kaepernick attended the University of Nevada, where he was a standout quarterback. In college, he was also involved in Kappa Alpha Psi, a predominantly black fraternity.

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In 2011, Kaepernick was drafted to the San Francisco 49ers. Kaepernick made a name for himself early in his professional career. He exuded confidence in his touchdown celebrations, media appearances, and social media presence. The celebration was often  boisterous (re: “Kaepernicking”, a fusion between the John Wall and your average, everyday arm flex), but justified. After multiple successful seasons, the San Francisco 49ers went 8-8 in 2014. Kaepernick’s social media presence was dwindling, with responses to journalists becoming increasingly short. Some speculated that media-skeptic and coach, Jim Harbaugh, was rubbing off on Kaepernick. However, Harbaugh left, and Kaepernick remained out of the public eye - and off the field. In 2015, Kaepernick was placed on the injured reserve, and underwent multiple surgeries on his shoulder, knee, and thumb. In 2015, the 49ers would end their season 2-6.

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In 2016, Kaepernick revived his social media presence. Kaepernick shared videos of Tupac Shakur, Malcolm X, and expressed outrage at police brutality across the nation. That same summer, he enrolled in a summer course at the University of Southern California. The course was taught by Ameer Loggins, the former classmate of Kaepernick’s politically active partner, radio host Nessa Diab. Loggins was finishing his Doctorate on African Diaspora Studies at UC Berkeley. Diab had initially contacted Loggins to ask if there were any books that Colin should read. Soon after, Kaepernick was auditing Loggins’ summer course on the history of black representation in popular culture. Loggins described Kaepernick’s class presence as constantly engaged, taking notes, and participating in class discussions.

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At the opening of the 2016 season, Kaepernick had not been active in a game since 2015. However, he had been cleared to participate in June. On August 14, 2016, the 49ers had their first preseason game of the 2016 season, and Kaepernick made his first public protest. During the national anthem, Kaepernick did not stand. Many did not notice at first, because he wasn’t dressed for the game. However, during the third preseason game of the year, on August 26, 2016, Kaepernick did not stand again. Reporters began to notice, and the story was broken by NFL Media reporter Steve Wyche. As the protests progressed, so did Kaepernick’s playing season. He eventually beat out Blaine Gabbert for the starting position, and finished the season with impressive numbers: 2241 yards, 16 touchdowns, and a 90.7% QB rating. In a contract year, Kaepernick opted out of his $114 million contract. Despite these impressive stats, in 2017 33 quarterbacks had been signed, and Kaepernick was not one of them.