Ian Rapoport of NFL Network is reporting that a group called Courage Campaign is planning to fly a banner over Levi's Stadium tonight in support of Colin Kaepernick. The banner will read "@CourageCampaign: Kap Inspires Courage," and will fly over the stadium prior to the San Francisco 49ers' season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. It will be seen around 5 p.m. local time.
At about 5 pm local time prior to #49ers-#Rams, a banner will fly over Levi's reading: "@CourageCampaign: Kap Inspires Courage!"
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 12, 2016
"Courage Campaign fights for a more progressive California and country," says the group on their official Twitter page. "We are an online community powered by more than 1.3 million members." Their official website can be found at couragecampaign.org.
The backup quarterback has been quietly protesting the national anthem due to what he has described as "unjust" actions by the country. He did not stand during pre-game national anthems during preseason and will continue to kneel during the pre-game tradition.
"I'll continue to sit," said Kaepernick when explaining his actions. "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, this country is representing people the way that it's supposed to, I'll stand.
"There's a lot of things that need to change. One specifically? Police brutality. There's people being murdered unjustly and not being held accountable. People are being given paid leave for killing people. That's not right. That's not right by anyone's standards."
The reactions to Kaepernick's protest have been mixed, but there has been a good deal of support toward the quarterback's stance, even by current and former military personnel.
Kaepernick has inspired a number of players from around the league. During Sunday's games, four Miami Dolphins players kneeled during the national anthem. Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters raise a black-gloved fist during the national anthem.
"I chose to get involved to see if I could create change, raise awareness," said Miami's Jelani Jenkins regarding his decision to kneel. "And I want to make it clear that there is no disrespect to the military or to police officers – I'm not about that. I love everyone. I would like to keep moving forward in the right direction with everybody: equal rights, equal opportunity. From my position, it doesn't seem that it's happening. That's why I took a stand."
Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall, a teammate of Kaepernick's in college at Nevada, kneeled during the anthem during Thursday night's kickoff to the NFL season.
Multiple teams, including the Chiefs and Seahawks, saw their players link arms during the anthem. For the Chiefs, Peters was the last person in the line of players and had his arm free to raise it.
Poll
- Do you think Kaepernick's protest will inspire change?
- Yes62%
- No38%
- 174 votes
