Colin Kaepernick says the price of his NFL exile has climbed into staggering territory, and he’s not backing away from the number.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback estimates that being pushed out of the league cost him more than $150 million in potential football earnings. Kaepernick, who began kneeling during the national anthem throughout the 2016 season, became one of the most polarizing figures in sports as his protest against racial injustice ignited national debate.
After opting out of his contract with the 49ers and entering free agency in early 2017, Kaepernick never got another NFL offer, despite his talent and a previous Super Bowl appearance. Critics argued that owners had collectively blacklisted him because of the political firestorm around his protests. He later filed a collusion grievance against the NFL, and the two sides eventually reached a confidential financial settlement in 2019.
Years of private workouts followed as Kaepernick kept chasing a return, but the comeback never materialized. In the San Francisco Standard’s reporting, he was described as “in his physical prime at 29 and three years removed from leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl,” then left waiting for calls that never came.
“A decade later, he’s still waiting - essentially blacklisted from the sport he loved after protesting police violence by taking a knee during the national anthem. For those acts of protest, Kaepernick was banished and deprived of earnings he estimates at $150 million.”
Even after all that, Kaepernick says he has no regrets. “I’ve been very focused on doing the work.
I mean, I want to make sure we’re doing it, moving things forward, having impact. But the other part is, there was a realization that I was being positioned as the sole figure to be able to represent the movement, and I need to create space for other people to step up and be leaders.
I think of Ella Baker [a Black hero of the civil rights movement] - her work centered around, yes, we need strong leaders, but we need strong people collectively,” he told The Standard.
He also believes the league still keeps him out while dressing up its image with empty messaging.
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