NYPD officers take a knee to support Colin Kaepernick, still looking for NFL job

The Colin Kaepernick story has gotten seemingly endless attention because its reach goes far beyond football.

A pretty good reminder of that came Saturday afternoon in New York City, which is far removed from Kaepernick’s former NFL home of San Francisco. At a rally in Brooklyn, dozens of current and former New York police officers wore shirts that said “#WeStandWithKap” and at the end of the rally they took a knee and raised their fist, according to the New York Daily News.

Kaepernick became a household name when he took a knee for the national anthem last season to bring attention to racial injustice, including police brutality. It also appears to be one reason he has not been signed by any NFL team this offseason.

The police officers noted to the Daily News that they were speaking out against their belief that NFL teams aren’t signing Kaepernick as punishment for his protest.

“What Colin Kaepernick did is try to bring awareness that this nation unfortunately has ignored for far too long,” said NYPD Sgt. Edwin Raymond, an organizer of the rally, according to the Daily News. “And that’s the issue of racism in America and policing in America. We decided to gather here today because of the way he’s being railroaded for speaking the obvious truth.”

It was about this time last season that Kaepernick started his protest. That it’s still the biggest story in the NFL says something about the attention Kaepernick brought to the issues that led to the protest. A year later other players are still sitting, kneeling or raising a fist during the national anthem. This week, two white players showed support for their black teammates during their anthem protests. Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long put an arm around safety Malcolm Jenkins as he raised his fist. And Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman Justin Britt kept a hand on defensive end Michael Bennett’s shoulder as he sat during the anthem.

As we’re seeing all across the country, the conversation Kaepernick started by taking a knee during the national anthem is still going strong. That he hasn’t been signed by a team has brought even more attention to it.

More Kaepernick news on Yahoo Sports:

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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