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When quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee for the first time in August 2016 during a preseason game between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers, the sports world took notice.
The 49ers quarterback chose not to stand during the national anthem as a way of protesting police brutality against the black community. While we have all come to know Kaepernick for kneeling, how did it start? The answer is from former Green Beret Nate Boyer.
Boyer wrote in an open letter to the San Francisco quarterback that rather than sitting during the national anthem, he should take a knee because it never been viewed as disrespectful in his experience:
"Taking a knee has never been in my experience seen as a disrespectful act. People take a knee to pray, to propose to a future spouse. When someone's knighted, they take a knee. When I visit Arlington (National Cemetery) and my buddy who's passed, I take a knee in front of his grave to pay respects.”
Boyer added that players take a knee when a player is injured in an NFL game:
"When a player's hurt on the field in a [US] football game, and probably a lot of sports, a lot of the other players will often take a knee out of respect until that player that's injured is either carted off, carried off, or walks off on their own."
The former Green Beret concluded his point by saying that kneeling is a respectful gesture:
"It's a respectful gesture. I also saw it like a flag being at half-mast in a way. We raise flags at half-mast when somebody passes away or we are remembering a dark day in our history."
Impact of Kaepernick and his kneeling
After meeting Boyer, Kaepernick decided to kneel during every national anthem. The act divided America, with some supporting his gesture as others saw it as disrespectful to the nation.
Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers at the conclusion of the 2016 season, but wasn’t signed by another NFL team. His most recent tryout was with the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason yet there’s nothing on that front in terms of an NFL comeback.
As the league is now promoting social justice initiatives, one can argue that the 34-year-old and his iconic kneeling was where it all began. Even if the second-round pick of the 49ers in the 2011 NFL Draft doesn’t play another snap in the league, Kaepernick has made a lasting impact on the NFL on and off the field.
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