Colin Kaepernick Quotes
American Football Quarterback
Most people don't want to change. They're comfortable and set in their ways. But in order to change, you have to be able to agitate people at times. And I think that's something that's very necessary for us to improve as a country.
We have a lot of people that are oppressed. We have a lot of people that aren't treated equally, aren't given equal opportunities. Police brutality is a huge thing that needs to be addressed. There are a lot of issues that need to be talked about, need to be brought to life, and we need to fix those.
I'm going to speak the truth when I'm asked about it.
I think that's something that's hard for this country to address, is what the real issues are and coming to the point where we can admit that these are issues. Once we admit that, we can deal with it, we can fix them, and we can make this country and these communities a better place.
I'm going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed.
People don't realize what's really going on in this country. There are a lot things that are going on that are unjust. People aren't being held accountable for. And that's something that needs to change. That's something that this country stands for: freedom, liberty and justice for all.
It was just something - I didn't agree with what the flag was representing at this time, and you know, if you look at the original picture where people addressed it, I was trying to sit behind the coolers and out of the way, 'cause I didn't want to interrupt anybody else's right to stand and hold attention to the flag.
All my life, I've had these flashbacks, these dreams, nightmares, daymares, like visions, where I relive certain plays. Only the bad plays. I see them over and over, as if somebody's rewinding a tape and forcing me to watch.
There's a lot of things that need to change. One specifically? Police brutality.
I realize that men and women of the military go out and sacrifice their lives and put their selves in harm's way for my freedom of speech and my freedoms in this country, and my freedom to take a seat or take a knee, so I have the utmost respect for them, and I think what I did was taken out of context and spun a different way.
We have a presidential candidate who's deleted emails and done things illegally and is a presidential candidate. That doesn't make sense to me, because if that was any other person, you'd be in prison. So what is this country really standing for?
This stand wasn't because I feel like I'm being put down in any kind of way. This is because I'm seeing things happen to people that don't have a voice: people that don't have a platform to talk and have their voices heard and affect change. So I'm in the position where I can do that, and I'm going to do that for people that can't.
You have to train hard and be strong while staying flexible and limber, so I'm trying to find that balance.
As far as jeans and shirts, I rock a lot of different things.
To me, tattoos are a way of people being able to express themselves and have other people look at them and get a little insight into who they are, without ever even saying a word to them.
People are dying in vain because this country isn't holding their end of the bargain up as far as, you know, giving freedom and justice and liberty to everybody.
I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.
I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country. I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone.
In the heat of the battle, it's always different than when you go back and look at it on film.
I wouldn't say there is one specific designer I rock. It's more of the look of the shirt and what occasion and where I'm wearing it to.
To me, I'm going out there focusing on competing, not worrying about cardio or anything like that.
Sometimes, when things are going really well, I feel like I've already seen things - it's the flashback feeling in a good way. Like I'm watching a rerun, because I've studied this defense and know what comes next. Now, that is a good feeling, when your mind is working fast because you've studied, and you realize, 'I've seen this before.'
I have great teammates around me who make plays.
The SFPD has had a lot of issues, and I think one of the issues that needs to be addressed is the racist text messages that have been passed back and forth between PD members, not only talking about the community, but also talking about colleagues that work in the same department as them.
I do want to be a representative of the African community, and I want to hold myself and dress myself in a way that reflects that. I want black kids to see me and think, 'Okay, he's carrying himself as a black man, and that's how a black man should carry himself.'
I've had times where one of my roommates was moving out of the house in college, and because we were the only black people in that neighborhood, the cops got called, and we had guns drawn on us. Came in the house, without knocking, guns drawn on my teammates and roommates. So I have experienced this.
I have great respect for people's right to believe what they want to believe. And I don't think anybody should be prosecuted or judged based on what their beliefs are.
You're going to hurt, yes. You're going to have tweaks and problems. But you're a football player; you can play through those.
Its a touchy subject, 'cause I never want to take it there, where it seems like it's all about race. But I feel like that's something that comes along with the territory of being a black quarterback. When you have success - 'Oh, you're a freak athlete.' Not, 'Oh, you're a good quarterback.'
To me, when people say, 'Oh, you're a freak athlete,' it's bittersweet. It's a huge compliment to say, 'O.K., you have physical abilities that are kind of above and beyond.' But at the same time, I feel like it diminishes the mental side of the game.
A lot of them have families to feed, and I think it's a tragic situation where players aren't comfortable speaking what's on their mind or what's right because they're afraid of consequences that come along with it. That's not an ideal environment for anybody.
Mental health, for me, is doing everything I can to help this team win. Sitting around not doing anything isn't something I've been too big on since I was young.
I never weighed myself when I was at my lightest because I didn't want to know.
You have full-field view when you're watching the film. Eye in the sky, it's a lot easier to look at it that way than when you're back behind center.
Nobody cares if you're black, white, straight, gay, Christian, Jewish, whatever it may be. When you step on that field, you're a member, in my case, the 49ers. That's your job, your occupation.
I'm going out to play, and to play to win.
I don't look like my high school self anymore. I feel like I look more like an adult now.
I'll never take the easy way out.
I think, between the tattoos, the way I dress, the way I talk, people don't think it should go together with a franchise quarterback or someone that's leading the team or representing the organization.
The support I've gotten from my teammates has been great.
You have to be able to do everything as a quarterback, and that's not necessarily taking care of your job but making sure you're preparing everyone else to go out and play well. And make sure you have them in the right mindset when they step on the field.
The NFL is a performance-based business, so you should have to perform to earn some of your money. At the same time, I realize that my success isn't just because of what I do out there.
If you work hard and perform well, it doesn't matter whether you're 20 or 40. People are going to follow, and you can go in there and run the show.
I love America.
If I got a football scholarship, I was going to be a football player.
All my tattoos, they've been thought out, thought over, been a work in progress for at least a year before I've got them. So I'm not walking into a tattoo shop, picking tattoos off a wall. It's something that means something to me. It's something that I believe in.
People can talk all they want; that doesn't affect how I go about my business.
I don't believe in pressure. The pressure is not being prepared for what you want to do.
I haven't seen a quarterback play a perfect game yet.
I'm still trying to improve. Everything I can do to improve every part of my game - I'm going to do it.
Jim Tomsula is going to be great coach for us. Players' coach. Always around the guys. Someone that's willing to listen to what the players say and has their intake.
I'll always be a fan of coach Harbaugh. Not too sure about Michigan.
To me, I've played full seasons and had success. Mentally, I've been through it before. I'm not incapable of going through this.
You have to take care of the ball to win football games.
I have great respect for the religion. I know a lot of people that are Muslim and are phenomenal people.
When I'm actually getting off the bus, I still have my gospel playing. That's the way-to-the-game kind of music.
There are a lot of details to running that I never even thought about. I just went out and ran. I think I can be faster. I think I can be quicker.
My dad, being a businessman, constantly talked to me about carrying myself in a certain way and treating people with respect. And I think that's something that's carried over throughout my life. It's how I deal with certain situations.
I never felt that I was supposed to be white. Or black, either. My parents just wanted to let me be who I needed to be.
Whatever the offense dictates to allow me doing what I or this offense needs to do to win games, I'm going to do it.
When you step on the field, you want to be a starter. You want to be the person everybody looks to and says, 'If we need a play to be made, let's go to him.'
The biggest thing is I watch myself: What I need to improve on, what I can do different.
I refuse to take shortcuts.
I'm here to play football.
If you're going to do something, you're going to do it to be the best.
Once you're on the field, you're playing. You're not worried about anything other than doing your job to help your team.
I think being shy or a little bit more mild-mannered is more how you treat people and how you go about your business, not necessarily how you dress or things of that nature.
I felt the way people talked to me was like, 'It's OK to be No. 2 in the NFL, a backup,' and things like that. That's never been my approach.
I don't look at film that closely about my mechanics of where's my elbow at.
I don't want people to think you have to look a certain way or be a certain mold to be able to be a quarterback.
I have a very high expectation for everything I do. And when I go out and compete, I expect myself to make every play.
Teammates tell me to bring it down a notch in practice or that their hands are hurting. Randy Moss told me I was the first person to ever dislocate one of his fingers.
I'm not incapable of going through things.
My parents told me from the time I can remember that, 'Yeah, you're adopted. But this is your family.' I can remember my mom, she tells me this story: when I was little, I was looking at her, and I was like, 'Why isn't my skin the same color as yours?' She was like, 'Oh, you're adopted, but I wish I had pretty brown skin like you.'
Every time I step on the field, I step on the field to make plays.
It is funny to me that because I can run, because I'm athletic, people tend to see that as my only asset.
Quarterbacks can still have good bodies. I'm always conscious of the stereotype. I want to change what people think. There's a lot more to it than what you see on the field.
I don't think I can be too hard on myself.
I'm not your typical quarterback. I don't like when people say, 'Quarterbacks aren't supposed to run,' or, 'Quarterbacks aren't supposed to work out a certain way.'
I think the biggest part of my game that's underestimated is the mental part of it.
Whether football's here or not, I will be fine. I go out, I play to win.
I was not going to let people tell me what I'm capable of.
I'd say that, 99 percent of the time at Nevada, I knew what the coverage was and where I was probably going before the ball was snapped. It makes it very easy when I only had to read one person and know that I was going from here to here, and if not, I'm checking it down.
Victor Cruz just got his deal with Givenchy - amazing. I was so excited for him. That was amazing. So I think there are great opportunities for a lot of athletes out there.
I don't play for job security.
At the end of the day, you have to look at, 'Are they knowledgeable? Are they doing their job?' Not what their appearance is.
I think I'm very good at reading coverage and knowing where I want to go with the ball before the ball is snapped.
When it comes down to it, you're playing football regardless of what offense you're in.
I don't watch too much TV when it comes to sports or news or things like that.
Once I get into the locker room, I turn on stuff to get me hyped up. Mainly, it's a lot of rap music.
What other people think of how I play and how I go about things really isn't something I worry about.
I'm not too big on feelings.
I trained with a few Olympic runners and jumpers. Just to try to get a little bit faster, a little bit better. Anything I could do to try to get a little bit better and stay ahead of the competition.
Training, that's my specialty.
Unless you're being carted off, you should be on the field.
Feelings aren't going to help me win a game.
To try to prey on athletes' livelihoods while one is going through a tough time is embarrassing to me.
People are terrified of them to the point where Trump wants to ban all Muslims from coming here, which is ridiculous.
Thankfully, God blessed me with some legs that move pretty good, and we also get to wear pads, so I should be alright.