‘Where can I sign up for this slavery?’ Social justice warrior Kaepernick compares NFL to slave trade (VIDEO)

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has drawn scorn online after footage from his upcoming Netflix documentary showed him comparing aspects of elite American football to being purchased and sold in slavery.

Taking the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013, where they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens, Kaepernick has not appeared in the NFL since the 2016 season when he started taking the knee and leading the movement against police brutality.

Accusing owners across the league of blackballing him after being released by the 49ers, Kaepernick launched a lawsuit against the NFL in 2019 while also turning into an activist.

And now in a Netflix special named 'Colin in Black and White', he goes off on a tangent in explaining how college football hopefuls start the process of attracting professional franchises.   

Noting that the first step is the combine where players try out in front of potential suitors, the camera follows Kaepernick to a reenacted scene as youngsters run through different drills with officials looking on.

Describing that the players are "paraded out", he says that coaches will tell them they want their charges to become "killers", "beasts" and "animals" on the field.

He suggests this is coded language, with wider connotations linked to slavery and the culture of slaves and slave masters.

After, a new scene sees predominantly black players previously running up and down the field now half-naked in shackles on an auction block.

White "masters" barter over who they can buy and exchange, as Kaepernick says that the franchises  "poke, prod and examine you" while searching for any "defects".

Above all, he suggests, rookies chasing their dreams are being groomed and prepared for a slave system. 

It is not the first time that the combine and selection process has been compared to a slavery auction. 

Several bloggers and journalists have attempted to make the bridge in the past, but Kaepernick is arguably the most high-profile individual going out on a limb and boldly stating such things.

In recent times, we have also seen the new no taunting rule explained as a bid to "control black bodies", and it seems that while ever the NFL is played by a 70% African-American majority, people will try hard to make such links.

On social media, Kaepernick was blasted in some quarters as footage of the documentary spread.

"Where can I sign up for this slavery?" one Twitter user asked, while highlighting his reported $20 million net worth.

"True fact. Most slaves got multi-million guaranteed contracts," said another.

"He's not wrong. Slaves had custom Rolls Royces and penthouses," came one more comment along those lines.

"Wasn’t he begging to try out for slaveowners in the last couple of years?" it was asked.

"Weren’t his supporters claiming that he was a better-performing slave than other slaves currently playing at that time?"

On the other side of the argument, however, it was pointed out that even though players receive multimillion-dollar salaries, the owners "make billions off their labor".