NFL React To Former San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick Boycotting NFL After Harrison Butker Speech

“We have over 3,000 players. … They have a diversity of opinions & thoughts just like America does. I think that’s something that we treasure & that’s part of ultimately what makes us as a society better.” a sample of fan reactions to Kaepernick’s boycott of the league. Most fans think Kaepernick is being hypocritical himself because he asked to rejoin the league last season.

Harrison Butker’s controversial commencement speech — and the reaction to it — continue to dominate conversation off the field, with key figures in the NFL weighing in publicly for the first time this week.

The Kansas City Chiefs kicker stirred up a culture war skirmish with his remarks at Benedictine College earlier this month, in which he denounced abortion rights, Pride Month, COVID-19 lockdowns, “dangerous gender ideologies” and “the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion,” while also encouraging female graduates to embrace the “vocation” of homemaker, all in 20 minutes.Kaepernick, who is biracial, began sitting on the bench and subsequently kneeling during the playing of the national anthem in the 2016 preseason to protest what he called “the injustices that are happening in America.”

The actions prompted criticism from many — including then-candidate Donald Trump — who in August 2016 accused him of being anti-American.

Goodell made a similar critique of Kaepernick’s protest.