Last night [Thursday, September 1], sporting a hard-to-miss afro last night, Colin Kaepernick took a knee while the National Anthem was playing, and this time a teammate joined him. Eric Ried, a safety for the 49ers, joined him down on one knee before their game against the Seattle Seahawks began. The game was being played in San Diego, and it was “Salute the Military” night at the stadium, so there were multiple tributes to the troops throughout the night.


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Kaepernick changed his protest slightly, kneeling instead of sitting through the anthem. According to ESPN, this decision came after a 90-minute conversation Kaepernick and Eric Ried had over the weekend with former long snapper, Nate Boyer, who used to be an Army Green Beret.

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After the game, Kaepernick announced that he will donate the first $1 million he earns this season to various organizations that are helping the communities in need and to fight racial inequality.

Kaepernick addressed his meeting with Boyer during his post-game press conference. He said:

“We were talking to him about how can we get the message back on track and not take away from the military, not take away from pride in our country but keep the focus on what the issues really are. As we talked about it, we came up with taking a knee because there are issues that still need to be addressed and there was also a way to show more respect for the men and women that fight for this country.”

Seattle Seahawks corner-back Jeremy Lane joined the protest, sitting on the bench on his side of the field while the national anthem played.