Shaun King: I'm boycotting the NFL because of its blatant bigotry and anti-blackness

From [HERE] I love sports. Since I was a young boy, they've been one of the greatest passions of my life. For many years, my dream was to be a general manager of a professional sports team. I still think about it actually and sometimes allow my mind to drift to what my life would look like if I still went that route. The stance I am taking today did not come easily. It's heartbreaking, actually.

I'm an NFL fan. I watch the draft. I pay extra for the season pass on television so I can watch every single game. I follow the stats and standings and rankings religiously. It's an escape for me. Day in and day out, as I fight against injustice, watching a great game allows me to decompress from the stress of the cases I'm working on or writing about. I'm 37 years old and literally cannot remember a year in my life where I have not been a sports junkie.

But I won't be watching the NFL this year. I can't, in good conscience, support this league, with many of its pro-Trump owners, as it blacklists my friend and brother Colin Kaepernick for taking a silent, peaceful stance against injustice and police brutality in America. It's disgusting and has absolutely nothing to do with football and everything to do with penalizing a brilliant young man for the principled stance he took last season.

I did not want to make this decision, but it became inevitable when the Seattle Seahawks, after flying Kaepernick across country to meet with the team, instead decided to sign Austin Davis as their backup quarterback. It's a disgrace. I sincerely want to apologize for how hard I am about to go against Austin Davis, because it's great that he got the job, but the man is a scrub.

In 2012 he wasn't even drafted. He signed a free agent deal with the Rams that year and was later cut without playing a single snap. Colin Kaepernick took the 49ers to the Super Bowl that season and had some of the best stats of any quarterback in the playoffs. His 98.3 QB rating for the season was right behind that of Tom Brady.

In 2013, the Dolphins signed Austin Davis to the practice squad, but cut him one week later. In Kaepernick's opening game that season for the 49ers, he threw for 412 yards with three touchdowns — the most passing yards in a single game for a 49ers quarterback in a decade. Again, Kaepernick took his team deep into the playoffs and was only a pass away from being back in the Super Bowl. That year, Kaepernick had 21 passing touchdowns with just 8 interceptions and again had a stellar 91.6 QB rating and the team had a 12-4 record. The 49ers responded by making Kaepernick one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league.

In 2014, Austin Davis finally got his first NFL playing time for the St. Louis Rams, but despite some success, he was back on the bench by the end of the season. The following year, Davis served as a backup for the Cleveland Browns and got some playing time but was later benched in favor of Johnny Manziel and cut by the team in August. The Broncos signed Davis to a one-year deal, but cut him near the end of the 2016 season.

Last year, while Davis didn't play a single snap of a regular season game, Colin Kaepernick — playing under his third head coach in three years — threw 16 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions. Facing national scrutiny, Colin Kaepernick played well on the field, with his best QB rating in years and more rushing yards per attempt than any year of his career. His teammates voted to give him the highest honor the team has for a player for his stellar performance on and off the field. [MORE]