San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made himself the most polarizing figure in sports with his silent protest of the national anthem. His protests have made him wildly unpopular with many who feel his actions are disrespectful, but apparently not everyone feels that way.
Fans are snapping up Kaepernick’s No. 7 49ers jersey at an accelerated rate following the media attention surrounding the quarterback’s actions. Before reports emerged that Kaepernick was sitting out the national anthem, his jersey was only the 20th best seller on the team website. Now, he’s shot all the way up to No. 3.
Before anthem stuff, Kaepernick had 20th-best selling jersey on 49ers site. Now he's 3rd https://t.co/da5ozdvxem pic.twitter.com/uy7C9jlPSH
— Mike Rosenberg (@ByRosenberg) September 2, 2016
Unless these are hate buys from fans wanting to burn Kaepernick’s jersey like this idiot tried to, it seems the quarterback’s divisive protest has earned him quite a few more fans.
Boos rained down on Kaepernick while he sat for the anthem in San Diego on Thursday, which begs the question: Who exactly in this scenario is being disrespectful to the anthem? However, these fans might actually just be the vocal minority in light of this new information.
Kaepernick has offered no indication he plans to quit his protest any time soon, which is great for free speech and apparently, jersey sales.
[Complex]