Well Colin Kaepernick’s 49ers teammates definitely showed their support and admiration for the quarterback.
Kaepernick’s teammates voted him as the winner of the Len Eshmont Award as the 49ers player who best exemplifies the inspirational and courageous play of Len Eshmont.
The award is considered the most prestigious team honor on which 49ers players vote.
Eshmont was an original member of the 49ers. The team was established in 1946 as part of the All-America Football Conference. Eshmont, who coached at Navy and Virginia following his career in San Francisco, died in 1957. The award was established that year in his honor.
49ers veteran safety Antoine Bethea said Thursday on the CSN Bay Area’s “49ers Insider Podcast” — that what Kaepernick did will be talked about for years to come.
When it first came out, obviously, there were probably some guys straddling the fence or on opposite sides. But at the end of the day, I think we did a good job as a team nipping it in the bud at the beginning. We came together as a team. Kap spoke to the team. He explained why he was doing that. He also explained if anybody didn’t agree or agreed or wanted to come talk to him, feel free to do that. A couple of guys did that. . . As far as the outsiders, of course, they have a lot to say about it. But I think we handled it well as a team.
A lot of times people don’t sit back and try to understand why he did it. Traveling and being on the team, you hear people when is taking a knee during the national anthem. You hear a lot of fans saying some different things. But if they really cared and really sat down and dove into the situation – I’m not going to say everybody would see it – but it’s a really a serious cause. He’s not saying he doesn’t love America. He’s not saying that he doesn’t support the troops. He’s saying, in that song, we’re saying one thing but the actions that are happening in this world are completely different.
Kaepernick said it was meaningful to have the support of his teammates.