The athlete-turned-activist's decision prompted athletes around the country — and the world — to protest against racial injustice and police brutality.
Author Dave Zirin believes Kaepernick's "great gift" to the current political period is that "he offered up a language and a method of protest that others could replicate."
The impact reached much further than just the pros. Just days after Kaepernick's decision, high schooler Rodney Axson Jr. opted to kneel during his football game in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio.
"For him, when he saw Colin Kaepernick take a knee," says Zirin, "it immediately clicked with him that this was something he could do to show people he was upset."
- Dave Zirin, sports editor at The Nation, author of "The Kaepernick Effect: Taking A Knee, Changing The World."
