Colin Kaepernick named honorary captain of University of Michigan spring football game

Courtesy: U-M Football on Twitter.

University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is welcoming a former player back for the spring game - but he isn't an ex-Wolverine.

Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick will serve as the honorary captain for the Michigan Maize and Blue spring football game this Saturday. Kaepernick played for Harbaugh in San Francisco and led the team to Super Bowl XLVII where they lost to the Ravens in 2013.

Kap-and-UM2.jpg

Courtesy: U-M Football on Twitter.

After Harbaugh left the 49ers, Kapernick became an unlikely Civil Rights activist by kneeling for the National Anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality. His silent protest sparked conversation and similar ones by players across the NFL, while attracting controversy. At the same time, he regularly spoke out against injustice and racism.

"Football Family. Excited to share the field with our honorary captain for Saturday's Maize and Blue Spring Game," tweeted the U-M football account.

Michigan's spring football game kicks off at noon on Saturday.

Kapernick, 34, hasn't played since 2016 in the NFL and in 2019 won a grievance against the NFL with Eric Reid that they had been denied jobs in the league because they knelt through the anthem before games. Both of them said the league of colluding to keep them out of the sport.

Kap-and-UM3.jpg

Colin Kaepernick and U-M QB Cade McNamara / Courtesy: U-M Football on Twitter.