Colin Kaepernick Wore Socks Depicting Police As Pigs During Training Camp


Colin Kaepernick wore socks depicting police officers as pigs during San Francisco 49ers’ training camp, an act of protest that seemed to have gone unnoticed at the time but is now getting attention, The Los Angeles Times is reporting.

Back on August 10, when the 49ers were at training camp, Associated Press photographer Ben Margot snapped a few shots of Kaepernick in action. Apparently, no one thought to look at his feet, because if they had, they would have noticed his socks and we would have heard about them at the time instead of just now, three weeks later.

They may be hard to spot in the image above, but they depict a cartoonish image of a pig dressed in a police uniform. “Pig,” as you may know, is a derogatory term used to refer to cops.

Not for nothing, novelty socks – depicting cops as pigs, or otherwise – have been a part of Colin Kaepernick’s wardrobe for some time, but no one paid much heed to them. Below is an Associated Press photo of Colin’s legs adorned with novelty socks depicting dollar bills, shot in 2014.

Colin Kaepernick apparently enjoys wearing novelty socks. [Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Images]
It appears that no one had given much thought to Colin Kaepernick’s wardrobe until now, and even so, it’s only getting attention because Kaepernick has inserted himself into the national conversation about police brutality. In fact, no one paid much attention to Colin Kaepernick at all before last week.

On August 26, before a pre-season game against the Green Bay Packers, Colin Kaepernick refused to stand during the playing of the national anthem. Asked later why he remained seated, Kaepernick explained that it was a protest against social injustice and police brutality.

“There is police brutality. People of color have been targeted by police. So that’s a large part of it, and they’re government officials. They are put in place by the government. So that’s something that this country has to change. There’s things we can do to hold them more accountable. Make those standards higher.”

In fact, according to a tweet from ESPN football reporter Adam Schefter, Kaepernick had stayed seated for the national anthem before the 49ers’ two previous pre-season games this season as well, but no one noticed because Kaepernick wasn’t in uniform and wasn’t playing.

Kaepernick’s protest was not particularly well-received, to say the least, both from within and without the NFL.

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz told ESPN at the time that he thought Kaepernick’s act was disrespectful.

“I think, personally, the flag is the flag. Regardless of how you feel about things that are going on in America today, and the things that are going on across the world with gun violence and things of that nature, you’ve got to respect the flag, and you’ve got to stand up with your teammates. It’s bigger than just you, in my opinion.”

And now it appears that, by some accounts, the protest may wind up costing Colin Kaepernick his career. Bleacher Report writer Mike Freeman says that he’s been speaking to some NFL executives about Kaepernick, and none of them want anything to do with him once his 49ers career is over.

“I don’t want him anywhere near my team. He’s a traitor.”

In fact, Freeman believes the 49ers will release Kaepernick before the season, effectively ending his football career. Now that news has broken that Kaepernick wore socks depicting police as pigs during training camp, his odds of a continued football career beyond San Francisco may be even slimmer.

[Photo by Ben Margot/AP Images]

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