default-cbs-image

Colin Kaepernick remains out of the NFL, and depending on who you ask, it's because of one of two reasons: He doesn't resemble the quarterback who had success under Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco or his social activism is a distraction and isn't worth the trouble to teams.

Kaepernick made news last August when he began sitting, then taking a knee during the national anthem to protest social inequality. It was a controversial decision, and one that -- for good or bad -- follows him to this day.

And while Kapernick waits for his next NFL opportunity -- the Seahawks appear to be the only team interested in his services -- he is keeping busy with various social causes, including donating about 50 custom suits to 100 Suits for 100 Men, a nonprofit organization that helps parolees on job interviews.

And that good deed didn't go unnoticed; Kevin Livingston, the president of 100 Suits for 100 Men, has organized a "stand up" outside the NFL's New York City headquarters as a show of solidarity with Kaepernick.

"He stood up for us. It's only right that he took our issues in our communities and brought it to a national level and sacrificed salary and being ostracized by the NFL," Livingston told ESPN's Michael Rothstein on Monday. "It was only right that we stand up for him. I started this, literally, when he came to my office -- I was moved. I work with parolees. People usually want to ostracize this particular population. Me working with him on the front lines and him coming to my office, this is not the first time I've worked with him. So I thought it was only right that I stand up for him."

The "stand up" will take place on Wednesday, May 24 at 5 p.m. not just in Manhattan but around the country.

"We're not protesting," Livingston continued. "This is not anti-NFL. This is not going against the police. What we're doing exactly is we're showing solidarity to the league on behalf of Colin Kaepernick. This is nothing planned by him. This is all me.

"But I have to say, Colin Kaepernick really moved me when he did that for our community. And so ... the reason why I chose [NFL headquarters] is the league needs to see that Colin is being supported. And that we're buying consumers and that our dollars matter and I don't think it's fair the way he's being treated by the league. I just want to make that very clear."

Kaepernick, who played for the 49ers from 2011-2016, began last season on the bench behind Blaine Gabbert, but was reinserted into the starting lineup in mid-October. When it was over, he had started 11 games, completed 59.2 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also rushed 69 times for 468 yards and two scores. But according to Football Outsiders' metrics, Kaepernick ranked 30th among all quarterbacks, just ahead of Case Keenum, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brock Osweiler and Jared Goff.