Colin Kaepernick has often been backed by other celebrities when it comes to support of his controversial decision to kneel during the national anthem at the start of NFL games. Since first making his choice, he’s faced a flurry of backlash namely from those in the NFL and relevant community. This backlash has gone so far as to depriving Kaepernick the privilege of playing with any team this season with the assumed reasoning leaning towards the league’s overall disapproval of the quarterback’s actions.
Most recently, comedian and actor Chris Rock, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, stepped onto Instagram to voice his sentiments on the whole situation, shedding light on his own obervations and the injustice he feels Colin is facing. "
"It's not the fact that not one of the bad teams that obviously needs a quarterback signed him i.e. Jets / browns / jaguars / bears,” he bagan in a lengthy caption. “It's not the fact that none of the teams that are good but are just a stable quarterback away from being a super bowl contender signed him Texans/ broncos/. It's the fact the there's a bunch of teams that are an injured quarterback away from there [sic] whole season going up in smoke Cowboys/ raiders / etc. The fact that the good teams don't want him is the proof.”
Rock also went on to further point out that often players’ controversial personal lives go overlooked, seemingly alluding to the special treatment that athletes frequently receive despite claims of drug abuse, domestic violence, and the like.
“Teams in every sport sign players all the time for the sole purpose of there [sic] competition not getting the player. But nobody's worried about that because they already know he's not gonna be signed. Most athletes are decent people but there's also a lot of bad guys that have been made worse buy [sic] getting special treatment their whole lives.”
“I've met Colin a few times and I don't think he's one of the bad ones. Btw I understand anybody that doesn't agree with him that's your right I get it. But you have to admit that in the world of sports where we give actual criminals a fifteenth chance this guy shouldn't be denied the right to ever play again.”
Chris isn’t the first, and he likely won’t be the last celebrity to use their platform to vocalize their support of Colin Kaepernick. The former San Francisco 49er can count the likes of J. Cole, Cardi B, Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman as just a preview of those in his corner. Recently, Jay-Z dedicated his performance of “The Story of O.J.” to Kaepernick during his set at the The Meadows festival in New York City.