Wisconsin native Colin Kaepernick began kneeling for the national anthem in the very early beginnings of the 2016 season. One knee to the ground was all it took to spark a growing trend of standing up (or rather, remaining seated) for the injustices that have continually plagued Black America. As the raging wars of both police brutality and heated racial tension continues, more and more football players over the past year have chosen to side with Kaepernick and his silent protest on the wrongdoings of our country.
Throughout the preseason this year, there has been a sudden surge of peaceful protesters as a result of the Seattle Seahawks lineman Michael Bennett’s story of a wrongful and scary police encounter in Las Vegas going public. According to Bennett, the incident “spiritually changed” him and is only further proof that an athlete’s fame and fortune do not excuse them from being racially targeted.
Multiple players from more than seven teams participated in the Kaepernick kneel just in the first week of the new NFL season. However, this season the players are not the only ones sitting out for social justice.
On Twitter, journalist Shaun King invited all who wished to join him in boycotting the NFL, in protest of their complete dismissal of Colin Kaepernick. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has not been signed to a team since he began protesting, therefore the boycott will not end until Kaepernick returns to the football world. “In the prime of his athletic life,” states King, Colin Kaepernick deserves to be respected and welcomed by his fellow peers of the NFL.
Although many people disagree with Shaun King, believing Kaepernick is acting rude and disrespectful to the country he was raised in, there still was a 13 percent decrease in viewers during week 1, according to Deadline Hollywood. In this political and social climate, agitations and frustrations regarding what is happening to Kaepernick are bound to occur. However, the more conversation brought to the matter (whether positive or negative) will only help Kaepernick and those fighting for him more, shedding a light on how divided America really is.
If the NFL boycott continually increases throughout the season, the football franchise is not the only thing that will be affected. The NFL’s advertisers and companies trying to make a profit during games will equally suffer, which is why this boycott could become so monumental. The one word that people associate with Americans is “Football!!!”, although, based on how horribly the NFL has completely disregarded the crises affecting its own players, that all-American tradition may be changing.