Exiled NFL player Colin Kaepernick is still preparing to return to the National Football League, despite the ever-diminishing prospects of that ever coming to fruition.
In the interim, Kaep, as he is widely known, is also preparing the release of his semi-autobiographical book entitled, Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game, which is a fictional tale that parallels Kaep’s childhood and coming-of-age.
A viable return to the NFL seems remote, if not impossible, at this juncture of his life. Kaep has not played a single down since kneeling before the national anthem – to protest inequities and police brutality – back in 2016 with the San Francisco 49ers.
Nevertheless, Kaep maintains a strict workout regimen where he rises early every morning to keep his physique in optimum shape. “Five, six days a week I’m still up at 4:30, I go get my training in. Yeah, that passion is still there, and the ability is still there,” he said told “CBS News.”
Kaep’s official website states the book is “an inspiring high school graphic novel memoir for readers 12 and up from celebrated athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick.”
The synopsis continues in the book that Kaep co-wrote with University of Chicago sociology professor Eve L. Ewing:
“A high school senior at a crossroads in life and heavily scouted by colleges and Major League Baseball (MLB), Colin has a bright future ahead of him as a highly touted prospect. Everyone, from his parents to his teachers and coaches, is in agreement on his future. Everyone but him. Colin isn’t excited about baseball. In the words of five-time all-star MLB player Adam Jones, “Baseball is a white man’s sport.” He looks up to athletes like Allen Iverson: talented, hyper-competitive, unapologetically Black, and dominating their sports while staying true to themselves. College football looks a lot more fun than sleeping on hotel room floors in the minor leagues of baseball. But Colin doesn’t have a single offer to play football. Yet. This touching YA graphic novel memoir explores the story of how a young change-maker learned to find himself, make his own way, and never compromise.”
Amid his childhood turmoil, coupled with the customary adolescent angst, football became the salvation of the character in the book.
“There were a lot more Black people in football. I was like, ‘Oh, I found some community here,’” he said.
