Former NFL quarterback turned social justice activist has received a nomination to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The nomination was presented by a fan using a little known process that allows people, even those with no connections to the NFL, to nominate someone for the coveted position in the Hall of Fame.
The fan’s name is Bob Birkett and he’s a retired man who comes from Vermont. He has no connection to the NFL whatsoever, but he discovered a way to nominate a player for the HOF and he used it to nominate Kaepernick, who hasn’t played in the NFL in years after starting his work and protests in activism and social justice.
USA Today reported that “Birkett discovered that anyone, even a retiree from Vermont with no connections to the NFL, can nominate someone for the Hall of Fame. So he sent a letter to the Hall in late June asking that Colin Kaepernick be inducted as a Contributor for the quarterbackâs efforts to call attention to police brutality of Black and brown people.”
Birkett’s letter spotlighted Kaepernick’s work in racial injustice and the impact he’s had on society. Birkett’s letter also mentioned how Kaepernick taking a knee turned into a “powerful symbol” for the oppressed.
As of now, the earliest that Kaepernick could be considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame is for the Class of 2022. Kaepernick would have to be approved and voted in, which seems to be a longshot at this point.
Other players might be voted in before Kaepernick has a chance, due to their play and statistics on the field.
When headlines first broke of Kaepernick’s nomination for the Hall of Fame, many football fans were wondering how he managed to get a nomination with his mediocre football statistics and not being in the NFL for very long. That was when people realized that it was a nomination provided by a fan of Kaepernicks, and not a nomination from the league or his previous teams.
Photo Au Kirk / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)