Kiko Alonso says Colin Kaepernick's Fidel remarks led to 'bad blood'
The Dolphins linebacker, the son of a Cuban exile, leveled Kaepernick on the deciding play Sunday
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The Dolphins won Sunday, and so did Kiko Alonso. The linebacker recorded a dozen tackles and an interception and helped bring down 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick short of the goal line on the decisive play.
That performance and win might have meant something extra special to Alonso considering he had "bad blood" with Kaepernick, who said last week that Fidel Castro was responsible for Cuba having "the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education system than they do in their prison system, which we do not do here even though we're fully capable of doing that."
Castro died Friday at 90. Alonso's father is a Cuban exile. Here's what Alonso told The Miami Herald after the Dolphins' win:
"You two saw what happened in Cuba first-hand," Alonso said to his father and me. "I didn't. But I do have feelings about it. So there was some bad blood there for me with Kaepernick."
He also posted a photo of the decisive tackle to Instagram.
"Usually, I just try to play my game," Alonso told the Herald. "But I did try to hit him."
After the game, Kaepernick clarified his previous comments about Castro.
"Trying to push the false narrative that I was a supporter of the oppressive things he (Castro) did is just not true," Kaepernick said, per USA Today. "I said I support the investment in education, I never said I support the oppressive things he did."
