SAN DIEGO — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who touched off a national debate this week on patriotism and protest and their proper places in sports, knelt with his arms folded during the national anthem before his team’s preseason game against the San Diego Chargers on Thursday.
SAN DIEGO — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who touched off a national debate this week on patriotism and protest and their proper places in sports, knelt with his arms folded during the national anthem before his team’s preseason game against the San Diego Chargers on Thursday.
Kaepernick attracted attention last week when he sat during the national anthem before a game against the Green Bay Packers. Kaepernick said he did it to bring attention to his views about racial oppression.
Thursday’s game was Kaepernick’s first since his polarizing gesture gained widespread awareness. It came with an added layer of tension because the game was played in a city with a strong military presence and on a night when the Chargers were hosting their 28th annual Salute to the Military Game. Even so, Qualcomm Stadium was mostly empty only minutes before the anthem was performed.
Shortly before Petty Officer 1st Class Steven Powell sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Kaepernick and his teammate Eric Reid knelt near the bench as TV camera operators hovered nearby, drawing boos that turned to cheers as Powell was introduced.
Reid was not the only teammate who offered support for Kaepernick. As he walked off the field after warmups, fans near the tunnel jeered Kaepernick, who left it to a couple of teammates to respond — one blowing kisses, the other applauding.
Kaepernick’s gesture last week drew support from free-speech advocates, some of whom portrayed it in the same vein as that of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the track athletes who raised a black-gloved fist in protest during a medal ceremony at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Others criticized it as an affront to soldiers who fought in wars to preserve Kaepernick’s right to free speech.
Early on, Kaepernick appeared unmoved by criticism — including from his former coach with the 49ers, Jim Harbaugh, and his former coach at the University of Nevada, Chris Ault.
“I’ll continue to sit,” Kaepernick said this week. “I’m going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed. To me, this is something that has to change. When there’s significant change, and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent and this country is representing people the way it’s supposed to, I’ll stand.”
But hours before Thursday’s game, Kaepernick seemed to acknowledge that his point may be getting lost in the debate over his actions when he responded to photos of him practicing in socks with cartoon figures of pigs wearing police hats.
In an Instagram post, Kaepernick said he wore the socks because “rogue cops” create an atmosphere of tension and mistrust, but he did not want the attention over the socks “to distract from the real issues.”
While many fans booed Kaepernick at every turn — as he emerged from the visitors’ tunnel for warmups, as he knelt during the anthem and when he broke the huddle — he did hear some cheers, owing to fans approving of either his stance or his efficient work at quarterback.
After the opening kickoff, Kaepernick drove the 49ers 85 yards in 16 plays for a touchdown with pinpoint passing and two dangerous runs that gained 30 total yards. His second series was not so effective — it resulted in three downs and a punt.
Kaepernick, who had surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder late last season, received substantial playing time because he had missed the first two preseason games as part of his recovery. Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl after the 2012 season, lost the starting job last season to Blaine Gabbert. The 49ers’ new coach, Chip Kelly, has not named a starter.
It was not Kaepernick’s quarterbacking but the question of whether he would sit for the anthem Thursday night that brought widespread attention to a game that would have been all but ignored. The NFL’s final exhibition games come after more than a month of practice, rarely feature any starters and are seen by coaches as exercises to get through unscathed before the start of the regular season.
Once both teams had left after warmups, the Marine Band San Diego performed military anthems. That was followed by a team of military sky divers who landed one by one on the field, the last one carrying a flag that read, “We Support Our Troops.” When they were done, a large flag was unfurled, Powell took the field, and Kaepernick took a knee.
When Powell finished the anthem, the sound of fireworks rattled the stadium. Fans stood and cheered.
It was a spectacle — and Kaepernick was definitely a part of it.