Colin Kaepernick honored with ‘Muhammad Ali Legacy Award’ from Sports Illustrated

The accolades just keep rolling in for former NFL star

Dec 1, 2017

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The accolades just keep rolling in for former NFL star Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick, the force behind the national anthem protests in the NFL, is this year’s recipient of Sports Illustrated‘s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award.

The publication said that “no winner has been more fitting than Kaepernick,” considering the fact that Kaepernick has risked his career in order to protest something that he cares deeply about and to bring awareness to racial issues such as criminal justice and police reform.

Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg wrote, “In the last 16 months, Kaepernick’s truth has been twisted, distorted and used for political gain. It has cost him at least a year of his NFL career and the income that should have come with it. But still, it is his truth. He has not wavered from it. He does not regret speaking it. He has caused millions of people to examine it. And, quietly, he has donated nearly a million dollars to support it.”

SI described the award, which is given in conjunction with Ali’s own family, as being given to “a figure who embodies the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy and has used sports as a platform for changing the world.” Previous recipients include Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown, Jack Nicklaus and Magic Johnson.