Magazine Just Named Kaepernick Its ‘Citizen of the Year’

GQ magazine has named former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick “Citizen of the Year” in its latest issue.

The magazine ran a feature story on the controversial athlete, titled “Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced.”

Kaepernick was the first to popularize kneeling during the playing of the national anthem before NFL games.

The article was a big and predictable wet kiss to Kaepernick, who has arguably gotten far more attention in his post-football career than he ever did while he played on the field.

“Colin also made it clear to us that he intended to remain silent,” the article read when referring to the 30-year-old. “As his public identity has begun to shift from football star to embattled activist, he has grown wise to the power of his silence. It has helped his story go around the world. It has even provoked the ire and ill temper of [President] Donald Trump.”

Linebacker Eric Reid of the 49ers, who has also kneeled during the national anthem at football games, was quoted in the story as saying he wanted to get Kaepernick back into the NFL — something that seems almost impossible at this point.

Related: Papa John’s Could Cut Ties with NFL Over Anthem Protests

“My goal this year has been to get the narrative back on track,” Reid said. “We started having communications with the NFL, and they said they’re going to help us make progress on these issues. But the next step is to get Colin back in the NFL. Because he’s the one that started this … Now it’s time for him to get back in the league.”

Kaepernick filed a grievance last month, stating NFL owners had conspired to keep him unsigned because of his kneeling protests.

The grievance is absurd, considering Kaepernick had poor stats as a quarterback to begin with — and he was the one who opted out of his contract with the 49ers in March. He took the risk of being a free agent in a league in which he was making headlines more for his political statements than for his game plays.

Kaepernick reportedly landed a high-paying book deal recently, and now he’s on the cover of magazines like GQ — so there’s not much the former athlete has to complain about, all told. He turned a fading athletic career into a platform celebrated by leftists — who want politics to infect and permeate every aspect of life, including sports.