Colin Kaepernick, Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Alex Smith believes the United States of America was not ready for Colin Kaepernick at all.
Alex Smith knew his former San Francisco 49ers teammate Colin Kaepernick was a thoughtful guy, but he had no idea he was about to be the most political athlete of his generation.
Smith appeared on The Ringer’s 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt‘s podcast, discussing his time as Kaepernick’s teammate in San Francisco. He was there when Kaepernick first came into the league in 2011 out of Nevada and was there when he took his starting job during the 2012 NFL season, culminating in a Super Bowl berth. One thing is certain: America was not ready for Kaepernick.
Alex Smith finds it “tragic” that Colin Kaepernick is not in the NFL anymore
Smith kept mentioning throughout his conversation with Brandt how thoughtful and how hard-working Kaepernick was. He did say that Kaepernick was a soft-spoken guy, one who was still trying to find himself in his mid-20s. But once he took a knee during the playing of the national anthem during the 2016 NFL season, nobody knew what was about to become of him.
Smith said Kaepernick was way ahead of his time when it came to bringing to light police brutality and social justice reform. Had Kaepernick done his peaceful protesting during this past season, maybe he is still in the league? For now, Kaepernick is about to be five years removed from playing his last NFL game. At one point in his career, he was the prototype for the new NFL quarterback.
Smith was able to bring to light more about the enigmatic Kaepernick as his former teammate.