THEY HATED THAT DAMN KNEE... NOW COLIN KAEPERNICK IS MUHAMMAD ALI HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR! 🏆✊🏾

CHIIIIILE... LOOK HOW THE KNEE DONE AGED.

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER.

Ten years ago, Colin Kaepernick had folks acting like this man had walked onto the football field, snatched the flag off the pole, set it on fire and punted a bald eagle into the damn parking lot.

What did he actually do?

HE TOOK A KNEE.

A quiet-ass knee.

And that one knee had the NFL, politicians, sports commentators, barbershops, Facebook uncles and half of America in a HATING CHOKEHOLD. 😭

Now, a decade later, the Muhammad Ali Center has named Colin Kaepernick its 2026 Humanitarian of the Year. He'll officially receive the honor November 7 at the 13th annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards in Louisville, Kentucky.

And 730 BOOM has just one thing to say: You like yall always do...AND DO!!

ABOUT. DAMN. TIME. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

🏈 REMEMBER WHEN THAT KNEE WAS SUPPOSED TO DESTROY AMERICA?

Let's rewind this foolishness.

In August 2016, Kaepernick began protesting during the national anthem to bring attention to police brutality and racial inequality.

He initially sat during the anthem. After speaking with former NFL player and Green Beret Nate Boyer about a more respectful form of protest, Kaepernick began kneeling.

And apparently...

THAT MF KNEE HAD SUPERPOWERS.

Because people LOST IT.

“HE'S DISRESPECTING THE MILITARY!”

“HE'S DISRESPECTING THE FLAG!”

“GET HIM OUT OF THE NFL!”

Meanwhile Kaepernick was basically saying:

“Can we talk about Black people being treated unfairly?”

America:

“ABSOLUTELY NOT. BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR KNEE FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS.” 😭

AND SINCE WE WANNA TALK ABOUT “DISRESPECTING THE ANTHEM...” 👀

Baby, did y'all know the verse we normally sing at the football game ain't the whole damn song?

Because that third verse contains:

“No refuge could save the hireling and slaveFrom the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave”

EXCUSE THE HELL OUTTA ME?!

So you mean to tell me America spent YEARS mad because a Black man KNELT during a song that literally has the words “hireling and slave” buried in a verse most folks have probably never even heard?!

And before somebody jumps in the comments yelling, “THAT'S NOT WHAT KEY MEANT!”, historians have debated the precise meaning of that line. What ain't debatable is that THOSE ARE THE DAMN WORDS.

Now suddenly that conversation about why some Black Americans might have a complicated relationship with all this flag-and-anthem symbolism got a little more interesting, didn't it?

THE KNEE WASN'T THE ONLY THING AMERICA NEEDED TO TALK ABOUT. ✊🏾🇺🇸

👀 AND LET 730 BOOM SAY THIS PART CLEARLY...

I personally feel that man got BLACKBALLED.

That's my opinion.

But here's what we can establish as fact.

The 2016 season was Kaepernick's final NFL season, even though he had previously led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance and two NFC Championship games. He later filed a grievance accusing NFL owners of colluding to keep him out of the league because of his protests. The NFL denied collusion, and the parties reached a confidential settlement in 2019, meaning there was never a public ruling proving his allegation.

So legally, I'm not gonna tell y'all:

“THE NFL WAS FOUND GUILTY OF BLACKBALLING COLIN KAEPERNICK.”

Because that's not what happened.

But WE can absolutely look at the whole situation and say:

👀

Mmmmmmmmmm.

That's all.

Just...

MMMMMMMMM.

😂😂😂

✊🏾 AND HERE'S THE PART PEOPLE CONVENIENTLY FORGOT

Kaepernick didn't just kneel, disappear and spend the next decade yelling about football.

He kept doing the work.

His Know Your Rights Camp, founded in 2016, has focused on education, empowerment and resources for Black and Brown communities.

The Muhammad Ali Center specifically cited Kaepernick's opposition to racial injustice, his work empowering underserved communities and the personal and professional consequences he endured while using his platform for social change.

In announcing the honor, Lonnie Ali said Kaepernick demonstrated the courage to advocate for equality and human dignity even when it came at significant cost.

And THAT is where this gets interesting.

Because...

🥊 MUHAMMAD ALI?! BABY, THE PARALLEL IS PARALLELING.

For anybody who only remembers Muhammad Ali as the beloved legend everybody celebrates today, history needs to tap you on the shoulder.

Ali himself was once one of the most controversial athletes in America.

He refused induction into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War because of his religious beliefs and opposition to the war.

He was convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his boxing titles and effectively lost years of his boxing career before the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction in 1971.

Today?

MUHAMMAD ALI IS AN AMERICAN ICON.

Everybody loves Ali NOW.

That's the funny thing about history.

America will call your protest disrespectful on Monday...

put your quote on a T-shirt Tuesday...

and build a damn museum around you by Friday. 😭

🏆 AND NOW KAEPERNICK IS GETTING AN AWARD WITH ALI'S NAME ON IT

That's why this particular honor hits differently.

Not because Kaepernick was a quarterback.

Not because he went to a Super Bowl.

Not because he became famous.

The Ali Center says he's being honored because he stood on his convictions and continued serving communities even after the controversy followed him off the football field. 

Kaepernick called receiving an award in Ali's name both an honor and a responsibility, pointing to Ali's willingness to stand by his convictions even when it came at personal cost.

WHEW.

THERE GO THAT DAMN FULL-CIRCLE BUS PULLING UP. 🚌😂

🏈 AND LOOK AT THE NFL NOW...

Here's where Lady Red almost fell out the chair.

Ten years after Kaepernick's protest, the NFL continues using anti-racism and social-justice messaging, including its Inspire Change initiative and messages such as “End Racism.” 

Wait.

Hold up.

Come back.

Because I KNOW y'all ain't about to make me say it.

END RACISM?!

👀

Wasn't that kinda...

WHAT THE KNEE WAS ABOUT?!

😂😂😂😂

So when Colin did it:

“GET THIS MAN OFF THE FIELD!”

Years later:

NFL end zone: END RACISM.

Lady Red:

B***H...

Y'all could've just listened to the knee!

😂 THE KNEE WAS EARLY. THAT'S ALL.

Sometimes society doesn't hate the message.

IT HATES WHEN YOU SAY THAT S**T BEFORE EVERYBODY ELSE IS READY TO ADMIT IT.

Then ten years later everybody walks into the room acting brand new:

“Racial inequality is something we should discuss.”

COLIN:

👁️👁️

MF I BEEN WAITING ON Y'ALL SINCE 2016.

😂 AND THEN KARMA PUT ON A 49ERS JERSEY...

Now while Colin is being named Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year, former team owner Jed York recently got arrested after responding to what police said was an undercover prostitution ad. The prostitution charge was later reduced, and York pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges.

BABY... THE TIMING?! 😭

Colin: 🏆 Humanitarian of the Year.49ers owner: 🚔 “Sir, step out the car.”

I ain't saying that's karma...

BUT THAT BITCH SURE KNOW HOW TO MAKE AN ENTRANCE. 😂

Colin, don't say SHIT. Just polish your award and let the universe handle the rest.

🎤 730 BOOM BOTTOM LINE

People can disagree with Kaepernick's method.

They can disagree with his politics.

They can argue about the anthem, the NFL, patriotism and protest until everybody's phone dies.

But here's something harder to argue with:

THE MAN DIDN'T STOP.

No NFL contract?

Kept going.

Controversy?

Kept going.

People dragging his name?

Kept going.

And now the organization dedicated to preserving the humanitarian legacy of Muhammad Ali is saying:

WE SEE YOU.

Colin Kaepernick will walk into Louisville on November 7 and receive the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award.

And somewhere...

that little knee from 2016 is sitting in a recliner with its feet up saying:

“Y'ALL DONE YELLING AT ME NOW?” 😂✊🏾

Because history has a funny little habit of eventually asking:

“Wait... what exactly were we mad at this MF for again?”

🏆 COLIN KAEPERNICK.

From one of the most hated knees in sports...

to Humanitarian of the Year.

ABOUT DAMN TIME.

IT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM! 💥