*It appears somebody got it WRONG. That somebody would be CBS Sports’ NFL reporter Jason La Canfora.
Here’s the deal. In a tweet on Sunday, unemployed ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick appeared to refute a report Sunday that he would stand during the National Anthem if he was signed by an NFL team.
“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on,” Kaepernick tweeted with an attribution to Winston Churchill.
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Winston S. Churchill
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) October 8, 2017
Kaepernick, who kneeled during the National Anthem while quarterback for the 49ers last year to protest racial injustice and police brutality, spoke with CBS NFL Today Jason La Canfora on Saturday about his future as he remains unsigned by a team.
However, in his recounting of that conversation he had with Kaepernick on CBS’ Inside the NFL on Sunday, La Canfora said Kaep would not kneel during the National Anthem if given the opportunity to return to the NFL. But the two never discussed the issue, La Canfora later clarified on Twitter.
Kaepernick also retweeted several people — including his girlfriend Nessa Diab and prominent Black Lives Matter activist Deray McKesson — denying the claim following La Canfora’s comments.
The reports that Colin will stand for the anthem are completely false! He has never discussed this with anyone. pic.twitter.com/tWusUBJMeF
— NESSA (@nessnitty) October 8, 2017
Colin has not said that he is going to stand for the anthem, FYI.
— deray mckesson (@deray) October 8, 2017
La Canfora said on Twitter he was relaying other reports about the athlete’s plans for demonstrations, not referring to their conversation specifically.
Standing for Anthem wasn’t something that I spoke to Colin about sat. I relayed what had been reported about him standing in the future…
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 8, 2017
After sitting down with Colin Kaepernick for several hours, @JasonLaCanfora says the QB is still actively trying to play in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/R9qTIZ7EQl
— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) October 8, 2017
“My primary takeaway was that his sole focus right now is on being a quarterback,” La Canfora said Sunday. Later on Twitter, La Canfora doubled down on his reports that Kaepernick is working hard to return to the NFL.
Whatever, La Canfora. We’re not sure how he managed to conflate whatever Kaepernick said or didn’t say into him saying he would stand for the anthem if he got another QB job in the NFL.
The bottom line is that despite not playing in the NFL this season, Kaepernick’s protests have influenced a number of players and teams as the movement amplified after the orange a-hole in the White House blasted those in the league who took a knee. At a rally in Alabama last month, Trump appeared to refer to Kaepernick and current NFL players as a “son of a b*tch” and said NFL teams should fire players who chose to protests.
Kaepernick has remained fairly quiet as demonstrations during the National Anthem occurred, though he has retweeted several people on social media encouraging NFL players to kneel.
Off the field, the ex-NFL quarterback runs the Colin Kaepernick Foundation a/k/a Kaepernick7, where he has vowed to donate $1 million and all of his 2016 jersey sales to communities in need around the country.
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