The attention paid to Colin Kaepernick this season has primarily revolved around off-field issues, with Kaepernick initiating a protest against social injustice by kneeling during the national anthem. It was a natural inquiry to find out who he voted for, but it turns out Kaepernick declined to vote in the 2016 election.
On Sunday, after the 49ers fell to the Cardinals 23-20, Kaepernick explained why. The quarterback said, via Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area, he believed it would be "hypocritical" of him to take part in the democratic process.
"I think it would be hypocritical of me to vote," Kaepernick said. "I'd said from the beginning I was against oppression, I was against a system of oppression. I'm not going to show support for that system. And, to me, the oppressor isn't going to allow you to vote your way out of your oppression."
Kaepeernick caught a LOT of heat for telling everyone he wouldn't vote. The combination of social protest with non participation didn't sit well with many people.
But given Kaepernick's stance on the two candidates in the election, it's not entirely surprising he would choose not to choose.
He previously called President-elect Donald Trump a "racist" and blasted former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for her email scandal.
"I mean, you have Hillary who's called black teens or black kids super-predators.
You have Donald Trump who's openly racist.
I mean, we have a presidential candidate who's deleted emails and done things illegally and is a presidential candidate. That doesn't make sense to me, because if that was any other person, you'd be in prison.
Trump, at the time just the Republican candidate for president, lashed back at Kaepernick, saying the quarterback "should find a country that works better for him."
That makes for an interesting dynamic between the two public figures moving forward. At least one NFL player, Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans, will sit during the national anthem for the foreseeable future based solely on the fact that Trump was elected president.
Kaepernick, who was wearing a Malcolm X shirt during the postgame press conference, said he doesn't feel any special sense of urgency toward his cause as a result of the election, but he does believe people need to be "doing the right thing."
"I think everybody should feel urgency to make sure that we're doing the right thing, building things the right way in order to be able to protect ourselves from what comes in front of us," Kaepernick said.
The Kaepernick shirt in question featured a Malcolm X quote from 1966: "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."
