49ers fans care more about victories than kaepernick elliott almond, mercury news, october 24, 2016 




colin kaepernick<u+2019>s first home start in a year didn<u+2019>t stop the pessimism that has left red-jerseyed 49ers<u+2019> patrons in a football funk. 




thousands of empty red seats at levi<u+2019>s stadium underscored san francisco<u+2019>s freefall that continued unabated sunday in a 34-17 defeat to the tampa bay buccaneers. 




few were thinking about kaepernick<u+2019>s season-long activism in which he again kneeled during the national anthem to protest oppression against minorities. these days, fans just want to see their team win a game after six consecutive defeats. 




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after leading the 49ers to a promising 14-0 first-quarter lead, kaepernick and the offense sputtered. he completed just 16 of 34 passes for 134 yards with one touchdown and one interception. 




kaepernick<u+2019>s scrambling<u+2013>he led the team with 84 rushing yards on nine carries<u+2013>and occasional flashes of accurate downfield passing, weren<u+2019>t enough, even with the 49ers firmly in the game midway through the fourth quarter. 




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kaepernick donned a t-shirt sunday paying tribute to the black panther party, an oakland activist group that celebrated its 50th anniversary this weekend. the quarterback said the shirt was a gift from his girlfriend, mtv host nessa diab. 




last week, he wore a shirt with muhammad ali<u+2019>s face before the game at buffalo. 




kaepernick<u+2019>s protest against police shootings of unarmed african americans has been divisive because some say it is disrespectful to veterans. a recent survey by yahoo sports and yougov found that a decline in nfl ratings partially is attributed to the quarterback<u+2019>s action. 




<u+201c>i don<u+2019>t know much about ratings and how they are affected,<u+201d> he said in a postgame interview. <u+201c>but i don<u+2019>t understand why ratings would go down fighting for justice for people, to try to stop oppression, especially in the league that is predominately black.<u+201d> 




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49ers fans care more about victories than kaepernick
henry wolff