Brian Urlacher criticizes Kaepernick’s protest
Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher criticized Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 national anthem protests during an appearance on OutKick’s The Craig Carton Show published September 25, 2026.
Urlacher played all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Chicago Bears from 2000 through 2012. Asked about politics during his career, he said he had little interest in the subject. He also said Kaepernick’s kneeling would have been difficult for him to accept in his own locker room.
Brian Urlacher’s 13-year Hall of Fame career
Urlacher built his Hall of Fame case over 13 seasons, all with the Bears, after Chicago drafted him ninth overall in 2000. He earned 8 Pro Bowl selections, 4 first-team All-Pro honors, and the 2005 AP Defensive Player of the Year award.
He finished his career with 1,353 tackles, 41.5 sacks, and 22 interceptions, numbers that made him a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 2018. Urlacher retired in 2013 and helped lead the Bears to Super Bowl XLI following the 2006 season.
Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 kneeling protest
Colin Kaepernick protested during the national anthem by sitting in August 2016, then first knelt on September 1 before a preseason game against the Chargers. He said his protest challenged police brutality and racial injustice. Blaine Gabbert opened the regular season as San Francisco’s starting quarterback.
Earlier accounts credited Army veteran Nate Boyer with suggesting kneeling. In September 2026, Kaepernick said teammate Eric Reid proposed it before their meeting with Boyer. The protest spread to other NFL players and generated national debate.
Urlacher emphasizes unity amid protest debate
Brian Urlacher said racial division can undermine a locker room while discussing Colin Kaepernick’s anthem protests. His comments emphasized his own objections to kneeling and his belief that teammates must work together.
San Francisco finished the 2016 season 2–14 under head coach Chip Kelly. That season, Kaepernick’s teammates voted him the Len Eshmont Award, which recognizes inspirational and courageous play.
Urlacher: Kaepernick divided the 49ers’ room
A decade after Kaepernick’s protest, Urlacher said he now believes it created a racial divide inside the 49ers locker room in 2016. He argued that division likely hurt the team’s performance and chemistry during that stretch of the season.
Urlacher did not offer statistics to support the claim on the show. The 49ers finished the 2016 season with a 2 win, 14 loss record under head coach Chip Kelly, the same season Kaepernick began his protest and later took over as the starting quarterback.
Urlacher says kneeling would cross a personal line
Urlacher said Kaepernick’s kneeling would have been extremely difficult for him personally to accept had it happened inside his own Bears locker room. He described it as something he could not have easily put up with as a teammate.
He called it a move that would likely have become a personal line in the sand for him. Urlacher, now 48, made clear the comment reflected how he would have reacted, not a judgment on how any of his former teammates actually felt.
Urlacher explains his locker room unity rule
Beyond the Kaepernick discussion, Urlacher explained his broader view of what keeps a locker room together. He said every player just needs to show up and contribute, regardless of personal background, for a team to function well over a long season.
Disagreements between teammates are normal, Urlacher said, but they usually get resolved quickly. He described spats that cool down within about 30 minutes, with players moving on and refocusing on the team’s shared goal of winning games.
Colin Kaepernick’s NFL career ended in 2017
Kaepernick’s NFL career effectively ended in March 2017 when he opted out of his 49ers contract and became a free agent. No team signed him that offseason, despite earlier reports of moderate interest from a handful of franchises around the league.
Supporters argued that team owners were blackballing Kaepernick over his protest, and a rally formed outside NFL headquarters in Manhattan in August 2017. Kaepernick has not appeared in another regular-season NFL game since the end of the 2016 season.
Kaepernick’s 2017 NFL collusion grievance
Colin Kaepernick filed a collusion grievance on October 15, 2017, alleging that the NFL and its teams coordinated to prevent him from obtaining a contract because of his anthem protests. The case proceeded through arbitration under the collective bargaining agreement.
Roger Goodell was deposed in April 2018, and several team owners were also questioned during the proceedings. In August 2018, arbitrator Stephen Burbank denied the NFL’s request to dismiss the case, allowing it to proceed toward a formal hearing.
NFL’s 2018 anthem policy was put on hold
NFL owners approved an anthem policy in May 2018 requiring players on the field to stand while allowing others to remain in the locker room. The players’ union challenged the policy, saying it conflicted with the collective bargaining agreement and infringed on player rights.
In July 2018, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to suspend implementation while discussions continued.
Fun fact: Colin Kaepernick holds the NFL single-game quarterback rushing record with 181 yards, achieved against Green Bay in a playoff win on January 12, 2013.
Kaepernick settled his NFL case in 2019
The NFL reached a settlement with Kaepernick and former 49ers safety Eric Reid on February 15, 2019, resolving their collusion grievances. Both sides agreed to a confidentiality clause, so the exact settlement terms were never made public.
Reports at the time estimated the combined settlement could have reached into the $10s of millions, with some outlets citing figures between $60 million and $80 million. Reid had signed with the Carolina Panthers in September 2018.
Urlacher stopped watching NFL for years
Urlacher said the anthem protests affected him personally even after he retired from football in 2013. He was watching the demonstrations play out on television as a former player rather than someone still inside an NFL locker room.
He and his wife stopped watching NFL games for roughly 2 to 3 years while the protests continued, he said on the show. Urlacher described his wife as fully supportive of the decision to tune out professional football during that period.
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Kaepernick remains out of NFL in 2026
As of September 2026, Colin Kaepernick remains out of the NFL a decade after his last regular-season snap with the 49ers in 2016. He has not signed with any team since becoming a free agent in March 2017.
Urlacher’s comments on The Craig Carton Show reignited discussion of one of the most polarizing moments in recent NFL history. The exchange shows the topic still draws strong reactions from former players and fans nearly 10 years later.
Kaepernick’s latest remarks have brought his past NFL protest back into the spotlight. Colin Kaepernick reignites the anthem debate with a blunt remark, bringing fresh attention to the controversy surrounding his protest.
Do you agree with Brian Urlacher’s take on Colin Kaepernick’s protest, or do you see it differently? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.
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