MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It's been a decade since NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick made headlines for taking a knee during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and racism. That quiet act of protest cost the former San Francisco 49er his football career, but not his voice. In a new memoir titled "The Perilous Fight," he writes of the years before and after the 2016 season. He details a lifetime of navigating being the adopted Black son of a white family in a white community and about the physical and emotional costs of his sport, and about the civil rights work that has become his life's work. And he's with us now to tell us more about it. Colin Kaepernick, thank you so much for joining us.
COLIN KAEPERNICK: Oh, Michel, thank you for having me on. I'm excited for the conversation today.
MARTIN: Same here. You know, you open the book with a really harrowing incident that happened when you were a child. Can you just briefly tell us what happened and why you wanted to open the book with this story?
KAEPERNICK: Yeah. Like any kid in the middle of summer, you were outside in the neighborhood, running around. And some of the neighbor kids were standing at their house as I was walking home. And I realized - as I was trying to get closer to see if I could play with them, they grabbed me and tied me to a rose tree in the front yard. And it was a moment that I wasn't prepared for. I hadn't been taught about this as a young Black boy in a white family. And the only thing that really saved me in that moment was a neighbor driving by and yelling at the kids.
And then the moment of running back home and realizing I can't tell my parents about this 'cause I don't know how they would respond to it, and I don't know if they would have my back in that. And I think it's important to open the book that way because so often I have been asked, like, why do you care about this? Like, why are you doing this? You've had a great life. You were adopted into a white family. You made it to the NFL. And all of those things are true. And also, there's still the reality of being a Black boy and a Black man within the United States and the very real consequences of that.
MARTIN: You had had a lifetime of thinking about these issues. Can you just take us inside your decision that - I want to do something; I have to do something?
KAEPERNICK: Yeah. Leading up to the protests, we had seen a number of killings of Black people very publicly on video. At this point, I had a lifetime of experiences. I had spent the years prior studying and educating myself around systems in Black history and how we got to this present moment and having a understanding of the history and context. You then have to ask yourself, well, what am I going to do about it?
MARTIN: Initially, you sat during the national anthem, but then you decided to take a knee. Did you expect it to be as significant and as widespread as it became?
KAEPERNICK: Did I think there would be backlash? Yes, because history tells us so. Do I think it would reach the level of magnitude that it did? I don't think you could ever predict that.
MARTIN: After your protest, Jay-Z signed a deal with the NFL, arranging halftime show talent for the Super Bowl and other ventures. His argument, as I understand it, is that this is a way of solidifying games in a concrete way to ensure Black companies and Black artists get their due. You just don't buy that.
KAEPERNICK: I think to see him come out and sign a deal with the NFL - to deliberately undercut and undermine the protest - is disappointing, to say the least. The argument would hold weight if there weren't already actions that were happening across the community. It would also hold weight if players were not still actively protesting during that time and carrying the work forward. While I can understand why you would want to make that argument, all of the supporting work around it says otherwise.
MARTIN: There are those who would say, well, wait a minute. There's an off-season, and during the off-season, you can do whatever you want as private citizen Colin Kaepernick. What do you say to that?
KAEPERNICK: The NFL also imposes on us significantly. As a player, you are constantly put in positions where this is not just about football. And for me, looking at that dynamic, we are football players. We are paid to go out and do a job. We went out, and we're doing our job at the highest level. We're also still people, and your humanity as a person shows up with you at work.
MARTIN: You wanted to keep playing after 2016. I think you've made that clear. That hasn't happened. Are you still disappointed? Does it still hurt?
KAEPERNICK: Of course. To have that taken away because you're trying to fight for a better society and for people to be able to live and thrive - it's disappointing. It's revealing. It lets me know how much work we still have to do. And I also still continue to train and prepare. That has just become part of my discipline - to make sure that at any given moment, I'm always going to be ready.
MARTIN: You have had a private NFL workout. And you had - you have had it said to you that there were teams that wanted you, but the owners did not. Why do you think that is?
KAEPERNICK: Because we've had coaches and GMs explicitly tell us that. And I think the bigger question for the NFL owners and Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, is more so a conversation around power. The amount of power that players have within the NFL is significant. I don't think they truly realize that power, and I think the protests help expose some of that. And I think this was really a dynamic of, we need to make an example out of Colin in this situation to try to send a message to the rest of the players to stay in line.
And I think there should be more questions asked to Roger Goodell and the NFL owners - why they are so afraid of players realizing their power, and why they would take action against someone that's trying to create a better future and environment for everyone.
MARTIN: So when all is said and done, was it worth it?
KAEPERNICK: Absolutely.
MARTIN: Colin Kaepernick. He's the author of his new memoir, "The Perilous Fight." Thank you so much for talking with us.
KAEPERNICK: Thank you, Michel. Really appreciate the time today.
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