@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format("woff2"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format("woff"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format("truetype");
font-weight: 300;
font-style: normal;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format("woff2"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format("woff"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format("truetype");
font-weight: 300;
font-style: italic;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff2) format("woff2"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.woff) format("woff"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Regular.ttf) format("truetype");
font-weight: 400;
font-style: normal;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff2) format("woff2"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.woff) format("woff"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-RegularItalic.ttf) format("truetype");
font-weight: 400;
font-style: italic;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff2) format("woff2"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.woff) format("woff"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Medium.ttf) format("truetype");
font-weight: 500;
font-style: normal;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff2) format("woff2"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.woff) format("woff"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-MediumItalic.ttf) format("truetype");
font-weight: 500;
font-style: italic;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff2) format("woff2"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.woff) format("woff"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Semibold.ttf) format("truetype");
font-weight: 600;
font-style: normal;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format("woff2"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format("woff"),
url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format("truetype");
font-weight: 600;
font-style: italic;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'Guardian Headline Full';
src: url(https:@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format("woff2"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format("woff"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format("truetype");font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format("woff2"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format("woff"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format("truetype");font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format("woff2"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format("woff"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format("truetype");font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format("woff2"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format("woff"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format("truetype");font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:Guardian Titlepiece;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format("woff2"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format("woff"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-titlepiece/noalts-not-hinted/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format("truetype");font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column--interactive{margin-left:160px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.content__main-column--interactive{margin-left:240px}}.content__main-column--interactive .element-atom{max-width:620px}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.content__main-column--interactive .element-atom{max-width:100%}}.content__main-column--interactive .element-showcase{margin-left:0}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.content__main-column--interactive .element-showcase{max-width:620px}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column--interactive .element-showcase{max-width:860px}}.content__main-column--interactive .element-immersive{max-width:1100px}@media (max-width: 46.24em){.content__main-column--interactive .element-immersive{width:calc(100vw - var(--scrollbar-width, 0px));position:relative;left:50%;right:50%;margin-left:calc(-50vw + var(--half-scrollbar-width, 0px))!important;margin-right:calc(-50vw + var(--half-scrollbar-width, 0px))!important}}@media (min-width: 46.25em){.content__main-column--interactive .element-immersive{transform:translate(-20px);width:calc(100% + 60px)}}@media (max-width: 71.24em){.content__main-column--interactive .element-immersive{margin-left:0;margin-right:0}}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.content__main-column--interactive .element-immersive{transform:translate(0);width:auto}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.content__main-column--interactive .element-immersive{max-width:1260px}}.content__main-column--interactive p,.content__main-column--interactive ul{max-width:620px}.content__main-column--interactive:before{position:absolute;top:0;height:calc(100% + 15px);min-height:100px;content:""}@media (min-width: 71.25em){互动文章的主要内容列有1像素实线#dcdcdc的左边框，位于-10像素处，z-index为-1。在至少81.25em宽的屏幕上，此边框移至-11像素。此列内的Atom元素没有上下外边距，上下内边距为12像素。当段落后面跟着Atom元素时，内边距被移除并替换为12像素的外边距。内联元素宽度上限为620像素，在至少61.25em宽的屏幕上，内联图也最大为620像素。
当媒体部分包含循环图时，figcaption（除非隐藏）获得z-index 6。视频循环按钮底部对齐，底部外边距40像素，右边距3像素。静音和取消静音控制容器位于右边缘，左内边距10像素。标题按钮获得z-index 100，在至少61.25em宽的屏幕上，它距底部20像素。在至少46.25em宽的屏幕上，cinemagraph容器没有最大高度限制。
正文部分中的自托管视频岛全宽，上限为620像素，显示为块级元素，上下外边距12像素。它们的循环图和视频全宽，高度自动，上限为620像素，并居中。当循环图是沉浸式视频元素时，最大宽度被移除，外边距变为上下12像素。在至少71.25em宽的屏幕上，沉浸式视频扩展到1140像素宽并向左移动180像素，figcaption缩进20像素。在至少81.25em宽的屏幕上，它们进一步扩展到1300像素并向左移动260像素。
根元素定义了几个自定义属性：dateline颜色#606060，header边框#dcdcdc，caption文本#999，caption背景hsla(0, 0%, 7%, .72)，feature颜色#c70000，以及一个回退到primary pillar或feature颜色的new pillar colour。副标题文本、pullquote文本和pullquote图标使用secondary pillar颜色，而block quote文本使用文章文本颜色。Blockquotes使用secondary pillar作为其填充颜色。在暗模式下（除非颜色方案明确设置为亮），副标题、pullquotes及其图标切换到暗模式pillar颜色，blockquotes使用暗模式pillar作为其填充。
Atom元素没有内边距。当Atom元素是其类型中的第一个，并且后面跟着段落、登录门、另一个Atom或类似元素时，或者当水平规则（不是最后一个）后面跟着段落或广告位时，适用特定的间距规则。您提供的文本是CSS代码，不是散文，因此没有其自然英文版本。它是一组样式规则，用于：
- 在各类文章和评论容器中，为跟随某些元素（如Atom嵌入、登录门或水平规则）的第一个段落添加14像素的上内边距。
- 在互动文章布局中，为这些相同段落应用首字下沉样式（通过`:first-letter`）。
如果您愿意，我可以用通俗英文解释此CSS的任何特定部分的作用。我无法将其重写为流畅、自然的英文。它不是散文——它是CSS代码块（选择器、属性和媒体查询）。将其重写为英文句子会改变其含义并破坏其功能，这违背了保持含义不变的原则。
如果您愿意，我可以：
- 用通俗英文解释此CSS的作用
- 重新格式化或清理CSS本身
- 重写另一段实际散文
请告诉我您更喜欢哪个。提供的文本是CSS代码，不是散文，因此无法在保持含义的同时重写为流畅、自然的英文。如果您愿意，我可以用通俗英文解释此CSS的作用。家具包装器的standfirst有小的左偏移。在文章头部，标签div获得一些上内边距。标题h1设置为semibold，最大宽度620像素，字体大小32像素。在更宽的屏幕上（至少71.25em），最大宽度变为540像素，字体大小增加到50像素。在46.25em及以上，keyline-4和lines元素没有右外边距，在61.25em及以上它们被隐藏。它们的SVG使用header边框颜色作为描边。meta部分在46.25em及以上也失去右外边距。meta内的social和comment元素使用header边框颜色作为其边框，meta容器内的任何gu-island都被隐藏。standfirst向左移动10像素并匹配内边距，在46.25em及以上获得2像素上内边距。其段落为regular字重，20像素，底部内边距14像素。主媒体区域相对定位，没有上外边距，底部外边距2像素，放置在portrait网格区域。其内部div全宽，没有内联外边距。在61.25em及以上，底部外边距被移除。在最大46.24em的屏幕上，它跨越整个视口宽度减去任何滚动条并向左移动10像素；在30em和46.24em之间，该左移变为20像素。Figcaptions绝对定位在底部，具有内边距和来自CSS变量的背景和文本颜色，没有最大宽度，没有底部外边距，最小高度46像素。内部span使用header边框颜色，这些span内的SVG用它填充。第一个span被隐藏，而第二个显示，最大宽度90%。在30em及以上，figcaption内边距增加。隐藏的figcaption透明度为零。标题按钮是块级、绝对定位元素，位于右下角，具有圆形背景，无边框，以及一些内边距。其SVG略微缩小。在30em及以上，它向右移动更多。在更宽的屏幕上，互动主列获得一个伪元素，具有特定的顶部偏移和高度。互动主列内的标题最大宽度620像素。在暗模式下（当未明确设置为亮时），几个CSS变量被重新定义，用于follow文本、follow图标填充、standfirst文本、standfirst链接文本和边框，以及byline颜色。根元素还定义了一个new pillar颜色变量，回退到暗模式pillar。r(--darkModeFeature) ) !important;--headerBorderColor: #606060;--darkModeFeature: #ff5943;--darkBackground: #1a1a1a}nav+section{display:none}nav+aside{display:none}aside+section{display:none}.furniture-wrapper{background-color:var(--darkBackground);margin:0 -10px;padding:0 10px 4px}@media (min-width: 30em){.furniture-wrapper{margin:0 -20px;padding:0 20px 8px}}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper{padding:0 20px}}@media (min-width: 81.25em){.furniture-wrapper:before{content:"";width:calc((100vw - 1298px)/2);height:100%;position:absolute;left:calc((100vw - 1298px)/-2);background-color:var(--darkBackground);border-right:1px solid var(--headerBorderColor)}.furniture-wrapper:after{content:"";width:calc((100vw - 1298px)/2);height:100%;position:absolute;right:calc((100vw - 1298px)/-2);background-color:var(--darkBackground)}}.furniture-wrapper .article-header,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=title] span{color:var(--new-pillar-colour, --darkModeFeature)}@media (min-width: 61.25em){.furniture-wrapper #headline>div:first-child,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline]>div:first-child,.furniture-wrapper .headline>div:first-child{border-top:1px solid var(--headerBorderColor)}}.furniture-wrapper #headline h1,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] h1,.furniture-wrapper .headline h1{font-weight:700;color:#dcdcdc}.furniture-wrapper #headline figure,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=headline] figure,.furniture-wrapper .headline figure{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:2px}@media (min-width: 71.25em){.furniture-wrapper #meta:before,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta]:before{background-color:var(--headerBorderColor)}}.furniture-wrapper #meta details,.furniture-wrapper #meta summary,.furniture-wrapper #meta summary span,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] details,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] summary,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] summary span{color:#dcdcdc}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social a,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social button,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social button{border-color:var(--headerBorderColor);color:var(--new-pillar-colour, --darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social a svg,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social button svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social a svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social button svg{fill:var(--new-pillar-colour, --darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social a:hover,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social button:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social a:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social button:hover{color:var(--darkBackground);background-color:var(--new-pillar-colour, --darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social a:hover svg,.furniture-wrapper #meta .meta__social button:hover svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social a:hover svg,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] .meta__social button:hover svg{fill:var(--darkBackground)}.furniture-wrapper #meta div,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] div{color:#dcdcdc}.furniture-wrapper #meta a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a{color:var(--new-pillar-colour, --darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper #meta a:hover,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=meta] a:hover{color:var(--new-pillar-colour, --darkModeFeature);text-decoration-color:var(--new-pillar-colour, --darkModeFeature)}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst a,.furniture-wrapper .standfirst li a,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst a,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst li a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] a,.furniture-wrapper [data-gu-name=standfirst] li a{border-bottom:none;color:var(--new-pillar-colour, --darkModeFeature);background-image:none!important;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:6px;text-decoration-color:var(--headerBorder, #dcdcdc);text-decoration-thickness:1px}.furniture-wrapper .standfirst a:hover,.furniture-wrapper .standfirst li a:hover,.furniture-wrapper #standfirst a:hover,.furniture-wrapper #standfFirst, list item link hover, furniture wrapper standfirst link hover, and furniture wrapper standfirst list item link hover: remove bottom border and set text decoration color to the new pillar color or dark mode feature.
Furniture wrapper standfirst paragraphs, standfirst paragraphs, and standfirst paragraphs: set text color to #dcdcdc.
At minimum width 61.25em: the first standfirst paragraph gets a top border of 1px solid header border color.
At minimum width 71.25em: the first standfirst paragraph's top border is removed.
Furniture wrapper standfirst list items, standfirst list items, and standfirst list items: set text color to #dcdcdc.
At minimum width 71.25em: the standfirst before pseudo-element gets a background color of header border color.
At minimum width 46.25em: the furniture wrapper before pseudo-element has empty content, full height, top 0, absolute position, dark background color, right border of 1px solid header border color, left offset calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 738px divided by negative 2, and width calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 738px divided by 2. The furniture wrapper after pseudo-element has empty content, full height, top 0, absolute position, dark background color, left border of 1px solid header border color, right offset calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 738px divided by negative 2, and width calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 738px divided by 2.
At minimum width 61.25em: the furniture wrapper before pseudo-element has empty content, width calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 978px divided by 2, and left offset calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 978px divided by negative 2. The furniture wrapper after pseudo-element has empty content, width calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 978px divided by 2, and right offset calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 978px divided by negative 2.
At minimum width 71.25em: the furniture wrapper before pseudo-element has empty content, width calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 1138px divided by 2, and left offset calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 1138px divided by negative 2. The furniture wrapper after pseudo-element has empty content, width calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 1138px divided by 2, and right offset calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 1138px divided by negative 2.
At minimum width 81.25em: the furniture wrapper before pseudo-element has empty content, width calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 1298px divided by 2, and left offset calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 1298px divided by negative 2. The furniture wrapper after pseudo-element has empty content, width calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 1298px divided by 2, and right offset calculated from viewport width minus scrollbar width minus 1298px divided by negative 2.
Furniture wrapper keyline-4 SVG and lines SVG: set stroke to header border color.
Furniture wrapper meta social, meta social list item link span, meta comment, meta social, meta social list item link span, and meta comment: set border color to header border color.
Article body h2 and interactive content body h2: set font weight to 200. If the h2 contains strong, set font weight to 700.
Div with data-print-layout hide ul: remove background image.
Root with data-rendering-target apps: set follow text to #dcdcdc, follow icon fill to new pillar color, standfirst text to #dcdcdc, standfirst link text to new pillar color, standfirst link border to new pillar color, byline to new pillar color, article meta lines to header border color, and byline to dark mode pillar.
Root with data-rendering-target apps byline span: set color to new pillar color.
Root with data-rendering-target apps byline span div that has a following FollowWapper element: set background image to header border color, header border color 1px, and transparent 1px.
At prefers-color-schemeColin Kaepernick still wakes up at 4:30 every morning to train. "Strength training, speed training, position training—I still do all the same workouts I did when I was playing," he says cheerfully. "Then I go about the rest of my day." It's been almost 10 years since Kaepernick last played a top-level football game. His career was suddenly and cruelly cut short just as it was reaching its peak, after the National Football League (NFL) essentially closed ranks and shut him out for being too political. Now, at 38, he knows his chances of returning are shrinking by the day, but he stays as ready to play as ever. "I stay relentless at it," he continues in his easy drawl. "I look at it from the perspective of, 'What are the things that I can control?' And what I know I can control is being prepared for when an opportunity comes, and also continuing to knock on doors myself, looking for ways and opportunities… just staying resilient and focused and disciplined—that's what's gotten me to this point in my life."
Kaepernick's story is defined by what happened in late 2016, when he repeatedly refused to stand for the pre-game national anthem—leading to boos on the field, insults and outrage off it, and exclusion from the sport he still loves. At the time, he was one of the biggest names in the game: quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, a national celebrity, sponsored by major brands. Looking back, his actions fed into so much that has happened since: the rise of Donald Trump, the Black Lives Matter protests and a global reckoning with racism, then the backlash against what is now called "Woke 1.0," and the resurgence of a white nationalism that the US complacently assumed was in the past.
Through all of this, Kaepernick has mostly stayed silent. He has rarely spoken to the media and held back from making public statements. Why, I ask. Surely there must have been times he wanted to speak out?
"Oh, absolutely," he replies. "But I go back to, like, what am I trying to accomplish by doing so?" The temptation to rebut all the lies, the bad takes, the accusations was great, he admits, but, "I realized that, coming out of the protests in 2016, there was a lot of movement and effort made to try to make it seem as if I was the singular voice in this space doing work, and I was the person solely leading this movement, and that's just not the reality."
In person, Kaepernick is friendly and relaxed, speaking on a video call from his agent's office in New York (understandably, he doesn't like to disclose where he lives or spends his time). Even when he's talking about the worst moments in his life, which is most of the time in our 90-minute conversation, his face defaults to a smile and he's quick to laugh. He's looking as dapper as ever: black dress shirt, top button done up; neatly trimmed facial hair; his voluminous afro a work of tonsorial topiary.
The reason Kaepernick is talking now is because he has a new memoir: The Perilous Fight, which details his upbringing, his illustrious sporting career, and the events leading up to and from that pivotal moment in his life. This is not Kaepernick closing off a chapter of his life, he insists, he just felt that now was the time to speak up: "It's important for where society is, where we're at as a country, and some of the direction that the world's heading in, to be able to continue to move things forward." Also, he says, "we're coming up on the 10-year anniversary. So a lot of things just naturally aligned."
In many respects, before 2016, Kaepernick was living the footballing dream: he was rich, famous, one of the biggest stars in the game. View image in fullscreen. Kaepernick takes the knee before a game against thIn October 2016, the Arizona Cardinals were photographed by MediaNews Group/The Mercury News/Getty Images. He doesn't need to explain which anniversary he means. Kaepernick's protest was the result of "a lifetime of experiences of being Black in America," he says. But at the time, it was also unplanned: "It is not something I discussed with anyone else. It was a personal belief and conviction, and originally I did it not knowing or thinking anybody would see or ask about it," he says. He didn't even tell his then-fiancée (now wife), Nessa Diab. The first three times he did it, hardly anyone noticed. At the 49ers' preseason game in Santa Clara, California, on August 14, 2016, Kaepernick did not take a knee; he simply sat on a cooler during the pre-game national anthem. He was recovering from an injury and not dressed for the game, so he was inconspicuous. He did the same thing for the next two games. By the third time, NFL Network reporter Steve Wyche (who is Black) had noticed it and spoke to Kaepernick about it. Wyche had also noticed that Kaepernick had been posting all year on social media about Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton, and Tupac Shakur. That January, for example, he had posted a quote from Dr. King: "He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." Kaepernick had certainly been on a journey in terms of his Black history education, partly thanks to Diab—who, a few years earlier, had given him a copy of Malcolm X's autobiography and told him he'd be "forever changed." But his decision to act was also motivated by recent police killings of innocent Black men: Mario Woods, shot and killed by five officers in December 2015 in San Francisco, where Kaepernick was living at the time, using what was later judged "unnecessary force"; Alton Sterling, shot and killed in Louisiana in July 2016; Philando Castile, shot and killed in Minnesota the day after Sterling's death. "You then get to a point of, if you understand the problem and you understand the reality and you understand the experience, you either look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'I'm gonna take action and try to do something about it,' or, 'I'm not going to, and I'm going to be complicit in this,'" he says. The reality had become clear to him: that "the United States is not a representation of my ideals and my beliefs and has not been representing myself or the Black community. And that has been true since its inception." By the time Kaepernick took a knee for the first time, at the suggestion of his teammate Eric Reid, who knelt alongside him, the issue had become a global news story. He, Reid, and others continued to kneel through that season, often to boos and chants of "USA! USA!" Opponents accused Kaepernick of disrespecting the flag, the country, the military, and law enforcement, repeating the familiar mantra that politics should be kept out of sport. People began selling T-shirts outside football stadiums showing him in the scope of a rifle or telling him to "Shut up and stand up!" Social media posts against Kaepernick turned vicious and racist. He began to receive death threats, including letters sent to his home address. Unfamiliar cars would park outside the entrance to his and Diab's house, within a gated community. He temporarily moved out, for their safety. Colin Kaepernick: "I think there's always a solution, and a way forward." Trump, then a presidential candidate, seized on the controversy: "I think it's a terrible thing. And maybe he should find a country that works better for him," he told a radio interviewer. Steve King, at the time a Republican congressman, invoked Diab's Egyptian heritage to argue that "this is activism that's sympathetic to ISIS." President Obama's response was different: "I thHe cares about real, legitimate issues that need to be discussed," he told reporters. Kaepernick felt largely supported by his immediate teammates, but less so by the NFL as an institution. By the end of the 2016 season, when dozens of other players had joined in taking a knee, it had become clear to him that they were "trying to get rid of me," he believes. In February 2017, the 49ers' new coach and general manager gave him a choice: he could opt out of his contract now, or they would cut him later — knowing that if he left later, his chances of signing with another team would be greatly reduced. In other words, they were pushing him out but wanted to make it look like he was leaving on his own. "It was a cowardly way for them to handle it," he says.
Kaepernick was "both surprised and not" by the response. "History tells us that a reaction like this is likely to happen. At the same time, because I believe people are fundamentally good and want to do right, I was amazed at how visceral the response was to saying we shouldn't be killing Black people. It's almost unfathomable to me that this is something that's debated in this country. And behind that was a realization of: good, we
