“I will donate one million dollars plus all the proceeds of my jersey from 2016 to organizations in oppressed communities, 100k a month for 10 months,” a big statement made by Colin Kaepernick in 2016. The journeyman, Colin Kaepernick, has had a riveting two months. Entering free agency in early 2017, Colin was not signed by any other NFL team. Team owners made it clear that they did not want his protests to spread. Even if there was a team in dire need for his skills nobody seemed to want Colin Kaepernick on their roster. Moving on from the NFL, Colin has been a busy man. In early September the NFL players’ union named Colin the community MVP for his charity work. The union has stated that Colin has donated $900,000 of his $1,000,000 pledge.

On November 13, 2017, Colin was named GQ’s Citizen of the Year. The announcement shocked the nation. The lengthy article about Colin praises him for his charity work and community service and really shining a light on how Colin spends most of his time mentoring young African American kids by playing sports and games with them while giving them a role model to look up to. On the other hand, it also talks about his political standpoint and his relationship with the NFL. The piece also makes a very shocking comparison, comparing Colin to the likes of Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson. All three athletes blending politics, race, and sports.

However, some people disagree with GQ’s choice of Colin as Citizen of the Year. Marine Corps veteran, Rob Jones, has won the hearts of many Americans and people believe he should have been honored with GQ’s title. Rob was wounded in the military by a land mine and as a result, has had both his legs amputated. Rob’s inspirational accomplishments include running 31 marathons in 31 days in 31 different cities. Rob’s goal is to raise awareness and funds for wounded veteran charities and to inspire. Another amazing candidate for the award would have been Houston Texans defensive end, JJ Watt, who has strongly supported hurricane relief in Texas after hurricane Irma by raising over 60 million dollars.

Whether you agree or disagree about Colin Kaepernick winning the award you should not take any of his charity work and community services away from him. He may not deserve it over others, but he is not the worst choice. They could have given the award to Harvey Weinstein.