San Francisco 49ers quarterback and national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick will make his first start of the season Sunday on the road against the Buffalo Bills, who are coached by Donald Trump supporter Rex Ryan.
Head coach Chip Kelly made the announcement Tuesday that Kaepernick would replace struggling starter Blaine Gabbert. The 49ers (1-4) are mired in a four-game losing streak and sit in last place in the NFC West.
Kaepernick has become the nation’s most talked-about athlete to not record a meaningful statistic in 2016, having begun taking a knee during playings of the national anthem to protest what he calls police brutality and systemic racism in the United States. He was featured on the cover of Time magazine, and his controversial acts have won him both strong supporters and detractors. Among the latter is left-wing Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently called his actions "dumb and disrespectful."
Kaepernick helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl in the 2012 season, but he has regressed and struggled with injuries since then, ultimately losing out on the starting job in the 2016 preseason to Gabbert. Kaepernick has not thrown a pass this season, only taking three snaps in the opener and handing off each time once the game was decided.
As for Ryan, the second-year Bills coach introduced Trump at a rally in Buffalo this spring, which reportedly rubbed some of his players the wrong way. Ryan’s Bills started the season with consecutive losses but have rebounded with three straight wins and sit at second place in the AFC East.
It would appear Kaepernick and Ryan have one thing in common: dislike of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Ryan supports her Republican rival for the White House, and Kaepernick said Clinton should be in "jail" for illegal conduct regarding her private email server.