*Colin Kaepernick says one of the most repeated details about the protest that transformed his life has been wrong for 10 years: former Green Beret Nate Boyer wasn’t the person who first suggested kneeling during the national anthem.
On the 10th anniversary of Kaepernick and San Francisco 49ers teammate Eric Reid taking a knee together, the former quarterback tells NBC News that Reid was actually the person who proposed kneeling before their Sept. 1, 2016, preseason game. The revelation comes from an extensive interview with NBC News’ Rohan Nadkarni ahead of Kaepernick’s memoir, “The Perilous Fight,” arriving Sept. 15.
Eric Reid’s Role Comes into Focus
Kaepernick’s protest began before the famous kneeling images. He initially sat during “The Star-Spangled Banner” in August 2016.
After his protest became public, Boyer wrote an open letter criticizing Kaepernick’s method while expressing willingness to hear his concerns. Boyer later met with Kaepernick and Reid, and subsequent accounts commonly credited the military veteran with helping inspire the switch from sitting to kneeling.
Kaepernick now says Reid had already suggested it.
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That clarification connects directly to EURweb’s contemporaneous coverage. On Sept. 2, 2016, EURweb reported on Kaepernick and Reid’s protest, including Kaepernick’s account that Reid approached him, supported his message and wanted to determine how they could protest together.
Boyer doesn’t reject Kaepernick’s new account. Recalling the conversation eventually turning toward kneeling, he told NBC: “Maybe Eric did suggest that, and that’s kind of what that look was.”
Kaepernick says he and Reid didn’t correct the narrative because they wanted attention focused on their message rather than who invented the gesture. He also believes Boyer’s association with kneeling made the protest more “palatable” because Boyer was a white military veteran.
Kaepernick Says the Blackballing Continues
A decade hasn’t softened Kaepernick’s view of the NFL.
“I’m not gonna support an organization that one, is actively blackballing me, but two, has targeted my brothers who have been protesting as part of this as well,” he told NBC.
Kaepernick says he hasn’t watched an NFL game since leaving the league. “I watch college football,” he said.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has disputed the idea that Kaepernick was blackballed.
Kaepernick became a free agent in 2017 and later filed a grievance alleging NFL owners colluded to prevent teams from signing him because of his protest. The case was settled in 2019.
He now says some coaches and general managers privately told him they wanted him but were being stopped by people above them.
‘I Don’t Think the NFL Has Materially Changed’
Kaepernick also remains skeptical of the NFL’s racial-justice efforts.
After George Floyd’s murder in 2020 sparked worldwide protests, Goodell acknowledged that the NFL had been wrong for not listening to players earlier. The league subsequently expanded its social-justice initiatives and tells NBC it has committed more than $575 million since 2017.
Kaepernick isn’t convinced.
“’End Racism’ in the back of the end zone is a great marketing campaign, but what are the actions behind it?” he told NBC.
“I don’t think the NFL has materially changed,” he added.
The NFL told NBC that issues raised by Kaepernick and other players remain important and said it remains committed to creating lasting change.
Fatherhood Changes the Stakes
Kaepernick, now 38, still trains early in the morning, but his life extends well beyond football. He’s also the father of a 4-year-old daughter.
Fatherhood, he says, has increased the urgency of his activism.
One passage from his forthcoming memoir captures what’s at stake: “I don’t want my community to watch me and have the takeaway be that if you fight for Black folks, it’s over for you.”
Kaepernick also acknowledges his political thinking has evolved. After drawing criticism for not voting in 2016, he told NBC he voted in the last two presidential elections and now recognizes that not voting wasn’t the right strategy.
Ten years after one knee touched the sideline and ignited a national argument, Kaepernick isn’t declaring victory.
He’s correcting the record about how the gesture began while insisting the fight behind it never ended.
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