San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick hosted a "Know Your Rights" camp for Oakland-area youth Saturday, an event designed to expand his focus on social and racial injustice beyond his national anthem protest.
"This is exciting for me because I see a lot of hope, what is to come," Kaepernick said beforehand, in an interview with The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears.
Kaepernick said the campers, who numbered around 100, would have sessions to learn about situations with police, their rights, holistic health, financial literacy, and understanding both community and self. He said the camp's aim is to "empower youth, give them resources and tools" to deal with difficult situations.
"We want to let them know they have options and people that are behind them to help them," he said. "And that's a powerful thing, for someone else to have belief in you."
The struggling 49ers (1-6) are on a bye this week. Kaepernick, who began the season as the backup to Blaine Gabbert, has started the past two weeks, both losses. He has completed less than 50 percent of his passes and his quarterback ranking is in the bottom half of the league.
Kaepernick said he did not feel any extra pressure to succeed on the field because of his social undertaking.
"Football is my job, my profession," he said. "This is part of what I am as a human and what my beliefs are. For me that is completely separate. Though football gives me a platform, these are issues that exist even if football doesn't."
Kaepernick said he appreciated all the support he had received since he first sat for a pregame national anthem in August.
He talked about the many people who had come up to him and thanked him. He said people had told him they've had more conversations about issues of racial inequality in the past two months than they had previously in their entire life.
"The support was huge," he said. "It gave me excitement, gave me life."