Colin Kaepernick pursues his legal action against the NFL to maintain his activist position.
He has been a free agent for three years and is currently suing the league over alleged collusion. The quarterback and the NFL apparently came to a significant deal earlier this year.
Although Kaepernick was scheduled to check out for the NFL, it appears that his free agency will continue for some time to come.
Even if he is unsigned, Kaepernick’s wealth is still largely unaffected. He is thought to have a net worth of $20.0 million as per the most recent developments. Here is how Kaepernick survived while fighting for his cause.
Kaepernick, Colin was Chosen in the MLB Draft
Page Contents
On November 3, 1987, Colin Kaepernick was born in Wisconsin to a white mother and an African-American father. His real mother gave him up for adoption before his parents divorced.
Colin was adopted by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, who initially brought him up in Wisconsin before relocating to California when he was four years old. He began playing baseball, basketball, and football when he was a youngster.
His specialty in high school had been baseball, and as a pitcher, he had had many offers from colleges. But he took the football scholarship offered by the University of Nevada, wanting to play collegiate football.
By placing among the top quarterback prospects in the nation and breaking multiple records, Colin proved to recruiters that he was proficient in all sports.
His baseball prowess didn’t diminish, however, and the Chicago Cubs gave him a chance in the 2009 MLB draft.
Colin, though, decided to stay in college because he wanted to play football more and rejected the Cubs. The San Francisco 49ers selected him in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft.
Also Read: Family Life and Hefty Net Worth Of Bumper Robinson
Kaepernick and the 49ers agreed to a six-year Contract Extension
Kaepernick made $2.6 million in 2011 when he signed with the 49ers to start his NFL career. His pay in the following seasons was less than $1 million.
Then, in June 2014, Kaepernick extended his contract with the 49ers for six years for a staggering $126.0 million, with a record $61.0 million in potential guaranteed money. According to some accounts, the contract called for a total of $54.0 million in possible guarantees, of which $13.0 million was fully guaranteed. His pay increased to $13.07 million in that year.
In 2016, when Kaepernick was at the height of his NFL career, his highest pay was $14.3 million. That was the last time the NFL paid him a salary.
After undergoing three operations, Kaepernick started the 2016 campaign for social justice at the same time. But when the 49ers signed Kyle Shanahan from Atlanta as their new coach, he ran into trouble. Kaepernick decided to opt-out of his contract and hit free agency in 2017 because Shanahan didn’t think Kaepernick was a good fit for the improvements he wanted to make.
The earnings Kaepernick received from the NFL up until 2016 are shown in the following table.
| Season | Salary |
| 2011 | $2.6 million |
| 2012 | $607,922 |
| 2013 | $840,844 |
| 2014 | $13.07 million |
| 2015 | $12.05 million |
| 2016 | $14.3 million |
| Career Earnings | $43.47 million |
Kaepernick lodged a Complaint with the NFL
After being passed over for signing, Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL in 2017, alleging that the organization had colluded against him based on his political views rather than his play.
He asserted that the NFL and its owners were conspiring to prevent him from participating in the league because of his decision to protest by sitting during the playing of the national anthem.
The NFL attempted to have the case dismissed, but an arbitrator rejected their request. This means a trial was scheduled for Colin’s case.
However, according to legal observers, if the matter went to trial, both sides would stand to lose significantly.
According to a report from February 2019, Kaepernick and the NFL had struck a confidential deal, and he had withdrawn his complaint.
The settlement’s specifics were never made public, and other publications offer contradictory estimations of how much Kaepernick may have gotten.
In 2018, Kaepernick starred in Nike’s Ad Campaign.
Kaepernick continued to be a force that would start conversations about causes he stood for even when it appeared that his NFL career was coming to an end.
When Nike chose him to be the face of their “Just Do It” 30th-anniversary marketing campaign, his influence was further cemented.
The Nike commercial with Kaepernick says, “Belief in something. Even if it means giving up everything,” sparked a lot of controversies.
Some people believed Nike would lose money because of this risky decision because most companies would avoid taking a side. But both Nike and Kaepernick benefited from the ad.
When the advertising appeared, the unsigned free agent was still widely believed to have lost his endorsement contracts.
Kaepernick joined Nike’s athlete roster in 2011, but he didn’t participate in any of the company’s advertisements until 2018.
When he was left without a team in 2017, several people thought Nike had dumped him. It turns out that Nike had chosen Kaepernick to be a brand ambassador for their ground-breaking campaign in addition to keeping him on their staff.
According to rumors, the company gave Kaepernick a deal comparable to those offered to active NFL players.
Nike sales had not only increased, but Kaepernick also stood to gain millions annually from royalties on a line that would be exclusively dedicated to him.
Whether Kaepernick plays for the NFL or not, his financial security is demonstrated by this arrangement with Nike.
Also Read: Lenny Kravitz Girlfriend, Gay, Children
