In over a year, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has gone from starting quarterback of an NFL franchise to a beacon of social change. After a year dominated by a conversation of the protest movement he sparked across sports, GQ magazine has named Kaepernick one of their Men of the Year.
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Announcing GQ's Men (and Woman) of the Year 2017: @Kaepernick7, @StephenAtHome, @GalGadot, and @KDTrey5 https://t.co/5W5RMBKdku pic.twitter.com/LArjwrh3GX
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) November 13, 2017
Though Kaepernick is not quoted in the feature, he posed for a series of pictures from photographs Martin Schoeller. Among the photos are images of Kaepernick wearing an “I Know My Rights” t-shirt, and Kaepernick posing with a group of young people while wearing a dashiki.
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GQ introduces their subject by pointing out that he had previously appeared on the magazine’s cover when he was one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.
“Approximately 90 men are currently employed as quarterbacks in the NFL, as either starters or reserves, and Colin Kaepernick is betterâindisputably, undeniably, flat-out betterâthan at least 70 of them. He is still, to this day, one of the most gifted quarterbacks on earth,” the editors of GQ write.
.@Kaepernick7 will not be silenced https://t.co/NxQFCxdf1L #GQMOTY pic.twitter.com/jBIa1cHwPm
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) November 13, 2017
According to GQ, Kaepernick participated in the photoshoot because he wanted to refocus the narrative surrounding his national anthem protest. Kaepernick claims that his initial act of sitting out the national anthem was to, as GQ writes, “protest systemic oppression and, more specifically, as he said repeatedly at the time, police brutality toward black people.”
Colin Kaepernick has earned the right to remain silent https://t.co/Jx0z6tfM7C #GQMOTY pic.twitter.com/Mfw8ohCKIo
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) November 13, 2017
The rest of the feature consists of interviews with artists and other pop culture figures who praise Kaepernick.
Among the figures who are quoted is football player Eric Reid. Reid was the first player to join Kaepernick in his protest.