A decade after Colin Kaepernick first knelt during the national anthem, the former quarterback sat before a national television audience and named what he believes drove him from professional football: not performance, but politics. Speaking on 'The View' in September 2026 to promote his memoir, Kaepernick pointed to NFL ownership's financial ties to political power as evidence that his exile was never truly about football. His words arrive at a moment when the country's unresolved tensions around race, patriotism, and institutional accountability continue to surface — and when the question of
Kaepernick claims NFL owners blackballed him over politics, Trump donations
Police shouldn't kill Black people. That doesn't feel controversial to me.
Mark
So Kaepernick is saying the NFL owners actively kept him out because of his politics. That's a pretty serious charge. What's the evidence he's pointing to?
Mimi
He's pointing to the fact that the league donated millions to Trump and his administration. He's also saying the NFL's response to his protest—essentially freezing him out—reveals where the owners stood politically.
Luke
But here's the thing: we don't have a detailed accounting of those donations. We know he says they happened, but the specific amounts and which owners gave what—that's not in the reporting. And the NFL denied collusion, remember. The lawsuit settled confidentially.
Mimi
Right, but Kaepernick's argument isn't just about donations. It's about power dynamics. He's saying the league is 70 percent Black players, and if they unified, they could shut the whole thing down.
Mark
Is that 70 percent figure accurate? Where does that come from?
Luke
It's in the reporting, but I'd want to see the source on that. It sounds plausible, but it's a specific claim that needs grounding.
Mimi
The broader point he's making is that players have leverage they haven't fully used. One weekend of refusal and there's no business.
Mark
What surprised him most about the backlash?
Mimi
He said he was surprised by how controversial people found the idea that police shouldn't kill Black people. He expected some pushback—he knew the history of Black athletes protesting. But the intensity of resistance to that basic statement caught him off guard.
Luke
That's worth noting because it's not really about football anymore. It's about what that backlash revealed about American society.
Mark
And he's saying he won't support the NFL anymore?
Mimi
He told NBC News the league is actively blackballing him, and he's moved on to watching college football instead.
The Pulse
- Ten years after his first kneel, Kaepernick is still locked out of the NFL — and he is now saying plainly that politics, not performance, is the reason.
- He claims the league donated millions to Donald Trump's administration, framing his blackballing as a coordinated act of institutional power rather than a market decision.
- Kaepernick's structural argument cuts sharply: with the NFL roughly 70% Black, a single unified weekend of refusal by players would bring the entire business to a halt.
- His memoir and media tour are pushing the conversation back into public view, but the NFL has denied collusion and the settlement terms remain sealed — leaving the full truth contested.
- What genuinely surprised him, he said, was not the death threats but the ferocity of resistance to the simple idea that police should not kill Black people — a reaction he reads as a map of the work still undone.
A decade after Colin Kaepernick first knelt during the national anthem, the former quarterback sat before a national television audience and named what he believes drove him from professional football: not performance, but politics. Speaking on 'The View' in September 2026 to promote his memoir, Kaepernick pointed to NFL ownership's financial ties to political power as evidence that his exile was never truly about football. His words arrive at a moment when the country's unresolved tensions around race, patriotism, and institutional accountability continue to surface — and when the question of who controls the terms of dissent remains as live as ever.
Colin Kaepernick appeared on 'The View' in September 2026 — ten years after his first kneel — to promote his memoir, 'The Perilous Fight,' and to make a direct accusation: the NFL had kept him out of professional football for political reasons.
When asked why no team had signed him after he opted out of his contract in 2017 — despite a collusion lawsuit that ended in a confidential settlement — Kaepernick pointed to two forces: politics and power. He claimed the league had donated millions to President Trump and his administration, arguing that the NFL's reaction to his protest revealed where its leadership truly stood.
He then made a structural case for player leverage. With the league approximately 70 percent Black, he argued, a unified refusal to play for a single weekend would stop the business entirely. 'Things would change very quickly,' he said. He acknowledged the public support his protest generated, but also the boycotts it sparked — a fracture, he suggested, that exposed deep divisions over race and patriotism.
Asked whether the backlash surprised him, Kaepernick said yes and no. History — from Tommie Smith and John Carlos to Muhammad Ali to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf — had prepared him for retaliation. What genuinely caught him off guard was the intensity of resistance to the basic idea that police should not kill Black people. That resistance, he said, was itself revealing about the distance still to travel.
The NFL has consistently denied collusion. Fox News reached out to both the league and the White House and received no response. A decade on, Kaepernick remains outside professional football, and the question of why — politics, market forces, or something neither side has fully named — remains unresolved.
Colin Kaepernick sat across from the hosts of "The View" on a Monday in September 2026, ten years after he first knelt during the national anthem, and made a direct accusation: the NFL had shut him out of professional football because of politics.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback was there to discuss his new book, "The Perilous Fight," which chronicles his career and the decision that would define it. When co-host Ana Navarro asked why no team had ever signed him after he opted out of his contract in March 2017—despite his lawsuit against the league alleging collusion, which ended in a confidential settlement—Kaepernick pointed to two forces: politics and power.
"I think it was political," he said. He went on to argue that the NFL's response to his protest was itself revealing. The league, he claimed, had donated millions of dollars to President Donald Trump and his administration. Kaepernick emphasized that he had not protested against the NFL itself; rather, the league's reaction to his activism showed where its leadership stood. The audience applauded as co-host Sunny Hostin nodded in agreement.
Kaepernick then shifted to a structural argument about leverage. The NFL, he noted, is approximately 70 percent Black. The players are the product on the field. If they unified and refused to play for a single weekend, there would be no games, no business, nothing. "Things would change very quickly," he said. He acknowledged that his protest had generated substantial public support, but also boycotts of the league itself—a fracture that revealed something about where Americans stood on questions of racial justice and patriotism.
When co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin asked whether he was surprised by the level of backlash and the death threats he received, Kaepernick said yes and no. His upbringing had prepared him for some of it. History had prepared him too. He cited Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Muhammad Ali, Curt Flood, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf—Black athletes who had protested and faced fierce retaliation. But there was one thing that genuinely caught him off guard: the intensity of pushback against the basic proposition that police should not kill Black people. "That doesn't feel like a controversial topic to me," he said. He expressed bewilderment that so many people had resisted a conversation rooted in the simple desire for a society where everyone felt safe and had the chance to thrive. That resistance, he suggested, was itself informative about the work still ahead.
Earlier that same month, Kaepernick had told NBC News that the NFL was "actively blackballing" him and that he would no longer support the organization. He said he was watching college football instead. Fox News Digital reached out to both the NFL and the White House for comment but received no immediate response. The league has consistently denied allegations of collusion, and the terms of Kaepernick's settlement agreement remain confidential. What is clear is that a decade after his first kneel, Kaepernick remains outside professional football, and the question of why—whether it was truly politics, or market forces, or some combination neither side has fully articulated—remains contested.
Notable Quotes
I think it was political. I also think it was power. The reality is the NFL donated millions of dollars to Trump and this administration.— Colin Kaepernick, on "The View"
I'm not gonna support an organization that is actively blackballing me and has targeted my brothers who have been protesting.— Colin Kaepernick, to NBC News
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Politics & Governance