On August 26, San Francisco 49er’s Colin Kaepernick told a reporter before a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers that he was “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” The 28-year-old quarterback had just been asked why he was sitting down during the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” and his defiant response immediately set off a fiercely polarizing debate, drawing praise from those who saw it as a valiant act of protest against racial injustice, and scorn from those who perceived it as a blatant act of disrespect.