10 years after the kneel, why Colin Kaepernick's sacrifice endures | Opinion

Imagine what could have been for Colin Kaepernick.

In a league where Aaron Rodgers is still strapping it up at 42, Matthew Stafford is reigning NFL MVP at 38 and Kirk Cousins is 16 years older than the 22-year-old rookie in the same quarterback room, it's not a stretch to think that Kaepernick, at the ripe age of 38, could still be a force in the NFL today - if only he didn't sacrifice his career for a greater purpose.

Shame on you, NFL. Still. If only it was that simple.

If he had wanted to play football at the sacrifice of his dignity and integrity, he could have done it," Dr. Harry Edwards, the esteemed sociologist and onetime adviser to Kaepernick, told USA TODAY Sports over the weekend.

"All he had to do was bow from the ankles and say, 'Yessir. I'm sorry about that.' Because here's a guy that's 6-4, 230 pounds, running a 4.38, and could throw the ball (nearly) the length of a football field. At the end of the day, he could have come back. But he knew that to come back would mean sacrificing a lot of the things he sacrificed for."

It's been 10 years since Kaepernick launched the silent protest - initially by sitting, then for an entire season by kneeling during "The Star-Spangled Banner" to bring attention to police killings of unarmed African Americans and other forms of social injustice - that put him on the path to becoming the most socially significant athlete of his generation.

The milestone was fittingly marked last week with the announcement that Kaepernick - whom Edwards has called "this generation's Ali" - will receive the Muhammad Ali Center's Humanitarian of the Year award in November.

Kaepernick played six NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers yet courageously gave up a career that so many dream of for his principles. That makes him a hero to many - and especially people who look like me, a Black man - while reviled as a villain to others.

Principles. That should never be forgotten, should never be a message hijacked like so many did with his national anthem protest - miscasting it as disrespect for the flag or the U.S. military when it was all about social injustice and brutal killings at the hands of police.

That Kaepernick undoubtedly still walks the walk, engaging with disadvantaged youth through his Know Your Rights camps, donating time and money to numerous causes (he recently paid for the independent autopsy of Noah Wells, whose mysterious death in Mississippi has fueled suspicion) illustrates the heart behind his protest.

NFL 'wrong for not listening' after George Floyd killing

Sadly, when the brutal death of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street in 2020 was captured on videotape with then-policeman Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck, it added context to the reason for Kaepernick's protest. And it was striking that in the video the NFL released after George's death, which stated support for Black Lives Matter and condemned systemic racism, Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted the league was "wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest."

Goodell and the league never apologized to Kaepernick, but that said a mouthful to coincide with perspective illuminated by history.

Just think: If Kaepernick kept quiet, looked the other way and cashed his paychecks while suppressing his conscience in 2016 - like so many athletes before, during and after his career - he might still be playing.

Again, it's the sacrifice that Kaepernick - who settled a collusion case against the NFL in February 2019 for an undisclosed sum - made for a bigger cause.

"As I told him, 'Kaep, man, you're never going to do anything that's going to be the equivalent, much less overshadow what you have contributed to the broader society, in terms of simply taking a knee and saying to the world, we are better,'" said Edwards, a longtime consultant to the 49ers. He emphasized his point by reciting the names of Black victims - including Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown - whose cases fueled outrage.

"'You'll never be able to do anything on a football field that will overshadow that contribution.'"

Colin Kaepernick 'knew what the price would be'

Edwards knows. He rose to prominence as a social activist during the 1960s, when he organized the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which led to the iconic protest by gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos on the victory stand after the 200-meter final at the 1968 Summer Games at Mexico City. In receiving their medals, Smith and Carlos, wearing black gloves, raised their fists in "Black Power" salutes to protest racial injustice in the U.S.

Kaepernick, who sat behind the bench during the national anthem before the 49ers' first three preseason games, first took a knee to symbolize his protest for the preseason finale against the Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Sept. 1, 2016 - acting on the suggestion received from Nate Boyer, a former NFL player and U.S. Army veteran, who told him it would be more respectful to kneel than sit during the anthem.

This, after Kaepernick first revealed the reason for his protest during an interview with Steve Wyche, the veteran correspondent and studio host for The NFL Network, following a preseason game against the Packers on Aug. 26 at Levi's Stadium. Wyche interviewed Kaepernick without the presence of cameras, then broke the news for NFL.com in a story posted the following morning.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color," Kaepernick told Wyche. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Wyche reflected on the interview exchange recently for USA TODAY Sports.

"When we were done," Wyche recalled, "I said to Kaep, 'This is going to be a big story, man. Because when people tread on that flag, it elicits emotions that we don't understand. Some people might feel a certain way.'

"He was like, 'I get it.'"

Edwards remembers a similar vibe from a lunch meeting with Kaepernick at a hotel near the 49ers' headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., days after the quarterback first took a knee and ignited the passionate national discussion.

We had that conversation," Edwards said. "He knew what he was doing. He knew what the price would be. He knew he was going to be hated and reviled, but he also knew that he was going to be honored and remembered."

Kaepernick's memoir, "The Perilous Fight", is set to be released on Sept. 15, coinciding with a national speaking tour, all of which will undoubtedly add layers to his journey in his own words.

Yet given what we know now, much has long been apparent. Like the sacrifice.

"I told him it was coming," Edwards said. "There is no such thing as a free lunch. When it comes to this effort, this struggle, in American society, history has shown us. Look at Ali. Prime years of his life, gone. Look at Wilma Rudolph, shot down completely. She wound up teaching second-grade in the elementary school she went to (in Tennessee). Smith and Carlos, deprived of their right to participate in world-class athletics after the '68 Olympics. One after another, America makes you pay a tremendous price for that.

"And his response was, 'I know it. I'm aware of that.'"

Which is why, 10 years later, Kaepernick's sacrifice still looks like another form of injustice.

Follow Bell on X: @JarrettBell

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 10 years after the kneel, why Colin Kaepernick's sacrifice endures | Opinion