"We keep having the conversation until the conversation turns to love" - Looking back to when Kanye West tried to set up a meeting between Colin Kaepernick and Donald Trump at the White House
Colin Kaepernick has remained a largely controversial figure in the NFL. Since the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback took a knee during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality, he has divided opinion among NFL fans. However, his protest caused great controversy.
But another noteworthy development from it all has been Kaepernick's failure to land a job in the league since. The quarterback feels he has been singled out by the league and NFL owners due to his protests.
Five years removed from the incident, Kaepernick remains one of the most-talked-about figures in the sport. He was thrust into the limelight again in 2017 by former US President Donald Trump. Trump made this scathing remark which he expected NFL owners to follow for other players who took the knee:
"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you'd say, 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now. Out! He's fired.'"
But one of Trump's closest allies, Grammy award-winning rapper and producer Kanye West, once tried to resolve the dispute. In 2018, West told TMZ that he had called Kaepernick about potentially meeting Trump at the White House.
"I've been calling Colin this morning, reaching him, so I can bring Colin to the White House and we can remove that 'sons of b****es' statement and we can be on the same page."
West went on to say that he and Trump were open to having a dialog with Kaepernick holding nothing but love in their hearts.
"We never give up on anyone. Now let me even make that more positive. We move forward. We give love. We keep going. We keep having the conversation until the conversation turns to love."
Dr. Dre almost pulled out of Super Bowl half-time show over Colin Kaepernick protests
The Super Bowl LVI half-time show was one of the most highly-anticipated events of the NFL calendar year. The star-studded line-up featured the likes of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, and Mary J. Blige. It's no wonder there was such hype surrounding the performance.
But on the Workout the Doubt podcast, Dr. Dre revealed that he had considered pulling out at the last moment. This was due to the league's response to Kaepernick's protests:
βI was absolutely concerned about that. I actually called a couple of close friends and said, βListen, Iβm gonna pull out. Iβm not gonna do the show... I donβt know if I want the backlash after doing the show and potentially looking like a f**king sellout or something like that.ββ
The legendary rapper, though, went on to reveal that it was Jay-Z and Nas who convinced him to go through with the performance:
"We were on the phone for like 10 minutes, and he talked me into doing it. Nas and Jay-Z were big reasons why I decided to do the show."
In the end, Dr. Dre did perform alongside his contemporaries in what was arguably one of the most memorable Super Bowl half-time performances in recent memory.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit TMZ, the Workout the Doubt podcast, and H/T Sportskeeda.