Colin Kaepernick and 49er Eric Reid In Protest Drop to One Knee at Qualcomm

San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick continued his protests in support of Black Lives Matter by taking a knee during the singing of the  “Star Spangled Banner” Thursday night, September 1st, at Qualcomm Stadium. And alongside him was teammate, Eric Reid.

Kaepernick told the press ( Reports the Daily News: )  that he and Reid had discussed the protest, and the quarterback:

“He approached me and said I support what you’re doing, I support what your message is. Let’s think about how we can do this together

And dropping to one knee was intentional and symbolic. Going to one knee was his way of showing respect to the military while still expressing a protest. Kaepernick said:

“We wanted to make sure the message that we’re trying to send isn’t lost with the action. At this point, I think it will be taking a knee.”

The idea of kneeling came from Kaepernick’s discussion with ex-Green Beret and former Seattle Seahawk Nate Boyer. Kapernick said:

“We were talking to him about how can we get the message back on track and not take away from the military. As we were talking about it, we talked about taking a knee. It was also a way to show more respect to the men and women who defend the country.”

“I’m not anti-American. I love America. I love people. That’s why I’m doing this. I want to try to help make America better.”

Being San Diego, Kaepernick’s protest was met with continued booing throughout the pre-season game. It was also the Chargers’ salute to the military day at the Mission Valley stadium.

According to Daily News, “the quaterback’s act of defiance spread to Oakland, where Seahawks defensive back Jeremy Lane sat on the bench during the anthem. Lane told reporters that he sat to support Kaepernick, and that he’d told nobody he was planning to do that.”

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