Colin Kaepernick hasn’t found a quarter back job in the NFL yet, but that’s not stopping the Smithsonian from immortalizing him in their museum. According to Kaepernick’s advisor Harry Edwards, his game jersey, shoes, and a picture will be featured in a display at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture to commemorate his anthem protest against racial injustice.
Here are more details from USA Today:
Late last year, not long after the museum opened, Edwards donated a collection of items relating to the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and urged curators to, well, put them on exhibit, ASAP.
“I said, ‘Don’t wait 50 years to try to get some memorabilia and so forth on Kaepernick,’ ” Edwards told USA TODAY Sports. “ ‘Let me give you a game jersey, some shoes, a picture … And it should be put right there alongside Muhammad Ali. He’s this generation’s Ali.’ ”
The Kaepernick items are not currently on display, but the museum’s curator of sports, Damion Thomas, told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday that he expects new material in their collection will be rotated into exhibits in one to two years.
Like it or not, Kaepernick’s peaceful protest helped bring attention to social injustice and police brutality in poor communities, and will now be featured alongside other athletes that used sports as a platform to share ideas.