Massive backflip over Kaepernick snub

THE 49ers are apologising for initially leaving Colin Kaepernick out of a photo gallery celebrating the team’s history against the Packers.

The team posted dozens of photos on its website of past games against the Packers, highlighting memorable moments from their rivalry, before the teams meet again Monday night without at first including any of Kaepernick.

But until the issue was brought up, no images of Kaepernick were included in the montage.

This is the first photo gallery the team has run this year but pictures of Kaepernick were included in all seven photo galleries posted on the team’s website last year.

“Unfortunately there were a handful of obvious misses in this gallery posted by our website team and we appreciate them being brought to our attention,” the team said in a statement.

“The 49ers organisation has tremendous respect and gratitude for the contributions Colin made to our team over the years.”

Kaepernick set an NFL record for quarterbacks by rushing for 181 yards in a playoff win against Green Bay in January 2013, threw for 413 yards in a season-opening win against the Packers in 2013, and led a winning drive to win a playoff game in Green Bay on January 2014.

“We have fond memories of those games and that should have been displayed on our website,” the team said.

“This oversight does not properly reflect the appreciation our ownership and this team have for Colin.”

Kaepernick went 4-1 as a starter against the Packers, throwing for eight touchdowns.

The 49ers supported Kaepernick in 2016 when he decided to kneel during the national anthem to protest social and racial injustice and matched his $1 million contribution toward programs for social equality.

Kaepernick opted out of his contract the following off-season when the 49ers told him they planned to cut him. Kaepernick has been unable to find another team to play for the past two seasons.

Coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about bringing Kaepernick back after starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a season-ending knee injury and said he still didn’t fit the team’s offence.

“I made that decision just with the style of offence that we wanted to go with,” Shanahan said on Sept. 24. “That’s kind of what I said last year and it’s kind of the same situation now. If you’re thinking of if there’d be a different discussion now, I always look into what style of offence I want to do, what style of offence we’ve been doing for the last two years.”

The kneeling protest gained a higher profile last year when US President Donald Trump said players should be fired for such protests, calling anyone who knelt for the anthem a “son of a bitch” who was insulting the nation and flag.

Last month, Nike reached out to Kaepernick as the face of its newest advertising campaign, which lead to both outrage and a sales spike.

— with AFP