Who is Colin Kaepernick and why is he not in the NFL anymore?
COLIN Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem four years ago to highlight racial injustice - and since then, he has had trouble resuming his career ever since.
Here is more about the quarterback who once played in a Super Bowl.
Who is Colin Kaepernick?
Colin Kaepernick played for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016 after starring at the University of Nevada.
He became the starting quarterback for the Niners during the 2012 season and led them to the Super Bowl.
The 34-year-old threw for more than 300 yards in Super Bowl XLVII in February of 2013, but the 49ers lost to the Baltimore Ravens 34-31.
He struggled with inconsistency and injuries during the rest of his tenure in San Francisco.
The 6-foot-4 Kaepernick was born in Wisconsin, but his family moved to California when he was a child.
Why is out Kaepernick out of the NFL and what was his reason for kneeling?
Kaepernick sat or kneeled repeatedly during the 2016 football season.
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," he told NFL Media at the time.
"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."
It started when Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem during a preseason game.
The backlash - from President Trump and others - was immense.
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Trump called on teams not to sign Kaepernick, and some irate people threatened to burn Nike clothing after the sports retail giant signed the quarterback.
No team would sign Kaepernick as a free agent despite the fact that he completed nearly 60 percent of his passes and rushed for 468 yards in 2016.
The quarterback filed a grievance against the league, accusing the owners of collusion.
His exile continues to the present day even after a public tryout was held last year.
ESPN Senior NFL Insider, Adam Schefter, however, to report on May 25, 2022, that: "Colin Kaepernick, who last played football in 2016, the same year he started kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, is scheduled to work out this week for the Las Vegas Raiders, league sources told ESPN.";
What has Kaepernick done for social justice?
Kaepernick became the face of a new civil rights movement, Jason Reid wrote in in 2017.
LeBron James paid tribute to the free-agent quarterback when calling attention to George Floyd, the black man who died while in police custody.
The NBA icon posted a photo of the kneeling Kaepernick side-by-side with an image of a police officer with a knee on Floyd's neck.
"This ... ... is why," read the description of the photos, posted on Instagram.
“Do you understand NOW!!??!!?? Or is it still blurred to you??” James wrote.
James is just one of many athletes and activists who have supported Kaepernick over the last four years.
“He’s a modern-day Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali all in one,” activist Stephen Green told The Undefeated in 2017.
Who is George Floyd and what happened to him?
Floyd, who was 46, died on May 25, 2020, while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Minnesota police responded to a call from a grocery store that claimed Floyd had used a forged check.
Cops claim he "physically resisted officers" while possibly under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.
Video shows that Floyd was dragged from his car by cops.
The disturbing footage shows Floyd pleading with police and saying "I can't breathe" to the cop who was kneeling on his neck.
Floyd was handcuffed at the time and appeared to look calm moments before his death.
His family said Floyd was "clearly murdered" and called for justice.
Four police officers connected to the fatal incident were fired.
"I believe what I saw and what I saw is wrong on every level," said Mayor Jacob Frey.
"Being black in America should not be a death sentence."