Kaepernick Cripples His Own Message by Not Voting

Colin Kaepernick blew it by not voting on Tuesday, writes Melissa Jacobs at Sports Illustrated. His take-a-knee protests of police brutality during the national anthem have been "gutsy" and "heroic," she writes, but his decision to skip Election Day is a "huge miss." The NFL quarterback explained Wednesday that he didn't vote because he didn't think either candidate would change "systemic oppression" in the US. "To me, it didn't really matter who went in there. The system still remains intact that oppresses people of color," he said, per the San Francisco Chronicle. Bad logic, writes Jacobs.

"As an American, Kaepernick has the right to make his own choices, but to be the figurehead of such a serious, cultural movement and not vote in one of the most critical elections of our lifetime is baffling at best and deeply disturbing at worst," she writes. He could have picked a third-party candidate or written in anyone he chose. What's more, he also neglected to vote on a host of non-presidential issues in California, from gun laws to pot to executions. Activists like Martin Luther King Jr. risked their lives to make sure people could vote, but Kaepernick couldn't be bothered. "For a modern day revolutionary like Kaepernick to eschew that basic responsibility undermines his entire cause," writes Jacobs. Click for the full column. (More Colin Kaepernick stories.)