NFL Insider Recently Known for Aaron Rodgers Announcement, Revisits How Colin Kaepernick’s “Kneeling” Birthed Elsewhere

Most football fans know what transpired with Colin Kaepernick and the whole issue of kneeling for the anthem. But not many are aware of where this idea actually came from. An NFL Insider, known for his ‘confirmed’ Aaron Rodgers announcement to the Jets, shed some light on the issue. In a recent interview, he revisited the kneeling episode of 2016 and revealed where it actually came from.

Kaepernick shot into national attention when he started kneeling during the national anthem during the 2016 season. But the way of the protest wasn’t actually his idea.

Where did Colin Kaepernick get the idea of kneeling?

NFL Insider Trey Wingo recalled the Colin Kaepernick issue to clear some air around it. Calling the issue the reason for cross-pollination between sports and politics, he revealed that he has told many about the main source of this way of protesting, all those years ago. But according to him, nobody wants to believe that it is true.

“I couldn’t get people to believe that it was a former green beret from Texas, Nate Boyer, who told him kneeling would be an acceptable way. Because when someone fall in the field you kneel in their honor. I would say that to people, and they would be like ‘you’re lying. You made that up,'” Wingo told Joe Walsh on the ‘White Flag’ podcast. 

Kneeling wasn’t how Kaepernick started the protest. For the first few instances, he sat on the bench during the national anthem. But after Boyer, a retired army veteran, shot an open letter towards him, he changed his stance from sitting through the anthem to kneeling. And this isn’t the first time that it has been revealed.

The Nate Boyer intervention 

Nate Boyer himself has already corroborated the story. In a 2018 interview with NPR, the army veteran revealed how he shot an open letter to Colin Kaepernick after watching him sitting through the national anthem during the 2016 preseason. The QB then reached out to Boyer to talk about the way forward. And that is where the veteran told him to kneel.

Read More: Colin Kaepernick Reveals How “More Black People In Football” Prompted Him To Ditch The Sport He Excelled In College

“I thought kneeling was more respectful, and I will say that being alongside his teammates was the biggest thing for me,” Boyer told NPR’s, Michael Martin. He also reiterated the story in a recent podcast appearance.

Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since the end of the 2016 season. Most recently, he made headlines after he talked about growing up as an adopted black kid with white parents. He has faced a lot of flak already for his protests all those years ago. But will the origin of the protest method help convince Kaepernick’s critics?

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