Colin Rand Kaepernick is a civil rights activist and professional quarterback. Kaepernick played college football for the Nevada Wolf Pack, where he was named the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Offensive Player of the Year twice and became the only player in NCAA Division I FBS history to amass 10,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in a career.

After graduating, he was selected by the 49ers in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Kaepernick began his professional football career as a backup quarterback to Alex Smith, and became the 49ers' starter in the middle of the 2012 season after Smith suffered a concussion. He then remained the team's starting quarterback for the rest of the season, leading the team to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1994. During the 2013 season, his first full season as a starter, Kaepernick helped the 49ers reach the NFC Championship Game. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. As a political activist, he knelt during the national anthem at the start of the 2016 NFL games in protest of police brutality and racial inequality in the United States. Throughout the regular season, Kaepernick kneeled during the anthem. The protests received highly polarized reactions, with some praising him, while others denounced him. 

The actions resulted in a wider protest movement, which intensified in September 2017. Kaepernick became a free agent after the season and as of 2021, is still unsigned. Numerous analysts and observers have attributed this to political reasons.