Colin Kaepernick will tell the story of his life, career, and famous protest against racism in a memoir coming later this year, the Associated Press reports.
Legacy Lit will publish The Perilous Fight, by the civil rights activist and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, in the fall. “This is the story of a man who became someone the moment demanded,” says the press, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group. “It is a story about identity, sacrifice, and the cost of courage. And it is, ultimately, a story about all of us and the future we are still fighting to build.”
Kaepernick, a Wisconsin native, was a standout quarterback for the University of Nevada before being drafted by the 49ers in 2011. In 2016, during a preseason game, he sat during the playing of the national anthem, saying, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color.” In subsequent games, he knelt during the anthem, leading hundred of other athletes to do the same. Kaepernick became a free agent but was signed by no team; many observers believe his activism was the reason.
In his memoir, Legacy Lit says, Kaepernick “delivers his story with the same unflinching conviction that defined the moment the world watched. Equal parts memoir and manifesto, it traces the off-the-field battles that turned a single act of protest into a movement that changed American sports and culture forever.”
Kaepernick shared news of his memoir on Instagram, writing, “I gave up everything. And I’d do it again. THE PERILOUS FIGHT is the full story. The becoming, the moment, and what’s still left to fight for. The world has been telling my story for ten years. It’s my turn.”
The Perilous Fight is scheduled for publication on Sept. 15, less than a week after the beginning of the regular NFL season.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
