Former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Takeo Spikes says Colin Kaepernick deserves his own statue in the Smithsonian.
“I truly believe that he deserves some type of monument, a statue in the Smithsonian in D.C,” Spikes told NBC Sports Bay Area on Monday.
“The reason why I say this is because this an put everything on the line,” Spikes said of Kaepernick, who spearheaded the protest against America during the national anthem during the 2016 season. The former 49er second-string quarterback turned free agent in 2017 and then immediately turned down a 49ers contract. He has not been signed by any team since. Many claim Kaepernick has been blackballed from the league.
“But I applaud him simply because he decided to take a stand,” Spikes added. “He decided to draw a line in the sand and say look, ‘I can make the money, I can live a carefree life for the most part and get paid handsomely and never say a thing because I’m not affected.’
“But he took time to look back and really just see the big picture, the spectrum when we talk about the inequalities. He decided to not only call it out but take a stand for it,” the 14-season NFL veteran concluded.
Kaepernick has similarly maintained that he has been blackballed from the league. Despite claims that the NFL has conspired to keep him off the field, the NFL went out of its way to give him a special workout day in 2019. But Kaepernick refused to participate in the event and then arranged his own workout to showboat before the media. Only a few teams attended.
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