Colin Kaepernick made the savage comparison between the NFL Draft and training camps in his Netflix special. One scene showed players being paraded in front coaches before they are put in shackles and taken to an auction block.   

The Netflix special, Colin in Black & White, goes into the former NFL star’s childhood from high school to the events that led him onto to become an advocate for social justice. 

Kaepernick, who had an average annual salary $19 million, became a controversial figure within the NFL in 2016. He began kneeling during the US national anthem to protest police brutality while playing for the San Francisco 49ers.  

A clip from the new special, which was released on October 29th, Kaepernick states that coaches and scouts don’t want players to realize that the NFL Draft is a powerful dynamic and that training camp creates it. 

‘Before they put you on the field, teams poke, prod, and examine you searching for any defect that might affect your performance,’ Kaepernick says of NFL owners and coaches while walking through a staged NFL practice field.

Kaepernick stated, “No boundary respect,” “No dignity left intact.”

Then, a line of NFL prospect blacks walk by Kaepernick. They then transform into slaves and are sold at an auction. 

An average NFL player will earn around $900,000. Currently, 34 NFL players are paid more that $20 million annually.

Kaepernick said teams 'poke, prod and examine you' and search for any 'defect' -- without any dignity or respect for players when they go through the process of being drafted by the NFL

Colin Kaepernick compared the NFL Draft to slavery in his Netflix special. One scene shows players being paraded before they are seen in shackles at an auction block.  A clip from the new special was released on October 29. Kaepernick said that coaches and scouts don’t want players to realize that the NFL Draft is a ‘power dynamic.’

Kaepernick, who earned an annual salary of $19 million with the 49ers, narrates a scene where a line of NFL prospects, all of them black and who are played by paid actors, turn into slaves for sale at an auction with shackles on while white slave owners examine and place bids on them

Kaepernick, who made $19 million annually as a 49ers player, narrates a scene in which a line of NFL prospects, all black, become slaves to be sold at an auction. White slave owners inspect and place bids on them

Later in the video, the owners start lashing at the players with whips as Kaepernick tries to draw a comparison between the abuse slaves suffered at the hands of their owners in the US and the NFL Scouting Combine, a a week-long showcase that determines which upcoming prospects are drafted into the league

Later on in the video, the owners start whipping the players as Kaepernick tries draw a comparison between abuse slaves in the US and the NFL Scouting Combine. A week-long showcase determines which upcoming prospects will be drafted into this league.

Later on, the owners begin to lash out at the players with whips. Kaepernick attempts to draw a parallel between the abuse slaves suffered in the US and the NFL Scouting Combine. This is a week-long showcase that determines the future prospects who will be drafted into the league.

Kaepernick hasn’t played in a professional NFL game since 2017, when he decided to opt out of the final year on his 49ers contract to become an unrestricted agent. 

His hopes of becoming an unrestricted agent were dashed when he was not picked up by any other team. He filed a grievance against NFL in 2017 alleging that all 32 owners conspired to blackball him from the league as a retaliation for the protests. Although he was selected for Atlanta tryouts in 2019, the sides disagreed over several aspects of his workout, which led to a late location change and lower attendance by scouts.

Kaepernick was ridiculed on social media after the viral clip from the Netflix special became a huge hit.  

Colin Kaepernick at Netflix's premiere of Colin In Black And White on October 28th

Colin Kaepernick at Netflix’s premiere of Colin In Black And White (October 28th).

One user tagged Kaepernick’s account and wrote: ‘God @Kaepernick7 you are the absolute lowest of the low. This racially-divisive bs, is exactly what people are beginning to realize now for what overwhelmingly the vast majority of it is: manufactured by people like you. Your pathetic ass never made it into the @NFL.

Another user called Kaepernick an imbecile, in his post:

Clay Travis, Outkick.com writer wrote that Colin Kaepernick compared the NFL Combine, which offers all players of any race a voluntary chance at becoming multi-millionaires, with slavery. “Anyone defending this imbecile has a functional brain.”

National Review reporter Dan McLaughlin failed see the comparison Kaepernick was trying make and wrote: “One, this is astonishing historical ignorance that trivializes slavery experience.

“Two,” he’s complaining over a process that is integral to all team sports. He is not only anti-NFL, he is also anti-football. Three, in Kaepernick’s NFL, there aren’t any non-black players.

Burgess Owens, the current US Representative and Super Bowl Champion, is also black. He shared his thoughts on Twitter:

“How dare @Kaepernick make a comparison between the evil suffered by so many of us ancestors and a bunch of millionaires who chose to play game.

Kaepernick’s name was nationalized in 2016 after he kneeled during the National Anthem as a San Francisco 49ers member. This was in protest of police brutality in the US. 

In the following year, he decided not to sign a contract and became a free agent. He has not played in the NFL since 2016, and no other NFL team has signed him. 

San Francisco 49ers back-up quarterback Colin Kaepernick (C), San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Eli Harold (L), and San Francisco 49ers free safety Eric Reid (R) take a knee during the US national anthem before the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the 49ers in October 2016, the last year Kaepernick played in the NFL

San Francisco 49ers back up quarterback Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Eli Harold and San Francisco 49ers free safety Eric Reid (R), take a knee during US national anthem prior to the NFL game between San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys in October 2016. This was the last year Kaepernick had played in the NFL.

The ex-quarterback insists that his inability to rejoin the league was due his being blacklisted from the NFL by owners who opposed his anthem demonstrations. He sued the NFL and received an undisclosed settlement. 

Kaepernick’s NFL days have seen him receive endorsements from major companies like Nike, EA Sports, and other deals that have reportedly enticed him to spend tens of thousands of dollars. 

Kaepernick played in 69 games for the San Francisco 49ers. He completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 12,271 yard with 72 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions. He also scored 13 rushing touchdowns. 

COLIN KAEPERNICK CAREER TIMELINE 

  • 2011 – San Francisco 49ers take him with the 36th-overall pick of the NFL Draft 
  • 2011 –Makes his 49ers debut, playing three games
  • 2012 – Becomes starting quarterback midway through season. Later, he breaks an NFL postseason record by running for 163 yard against the Green Bay Packers. He also leads the 49ers to Super Bowl, where they lose against Baltimore Ravens
  • 2013 –Guides the 49ers to another strong season, reaching the NFC Championship game before losing to Seattle Seahawks
  • 2014 –Plays 16 games
  • 2015 – Plays nine games
  • 2016 –Starts kneeling during pregame US national Anthem playing to protest police brutality. This was the first and most prominent of the dozens of NFL players who did so during the season.
  • 2016 – Plays 12 games with 49ers
  • 2017 – In anticipation of his release, he opts to leave the last year of his contract and is made a free agent. He is not signed by any other team.
  • 2017 – Filled a grievance against NFL accusing all 32 team owners in collusion to blackball him from league in retaliation for protests controversial. 
  • 2018 –NFL adopts a new rule prohibiting players from protesting it. However, it eventually retracts it due to its divisiveness. 
  • 2018 –Nike’s controversial Nike commercial features stars at the beginning of the NFL season
  • 2019 –Kaepernick tried out for the NFL in Atlanta. However, the sides disagreed about several aspects of the exercise, which led to a late change of venue and lower attendance by the scouts.