There is still controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick.
Even if you’re not a sports fan, you remember Kaepernick.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback led his team to a Super Bowl appearance in 2013 and was one of the bright young stars in the game. But he is better known for his protests against police brutality and systemic injustice, most visibly by kneeling during the national anthem. That inspired other athletes to do the same and set off a national debate about race and protests that, at times, gripped the country.
It also might have cost Kaepernick his career.
He began those protests during the 2016 season, which turned out to be his last in the NFL. He never played again after that season, even though he was only 29 at the time and still better than quarterbacks who had jobs in the league.
It was a fascinating story at the intersection of race, politics, sports and America.
So it was exciting when famed director Spike Lee, along with producer and former ESPNer Jemele Hill, got together with Kaepernick for plans to make a multipart documentary series for ESPN.
But apparently, the much-anticipated project is dead. Reuters’ Rory Carroll and Lisa Richwine broke the story over the weekend that ESPN will not move forward with the series because of creative differences.
In a statement to several outlets, ESPN said, “ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences. Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film.”
Appearing at a charity event in Beverly Hills on Friday, Lee told Reuters, “It’s not coming out. That’s all I can say. I can’t. I signed a nondisclosure. I can’t talk about it.”
The documentary, which has been in the works since 2020 and began production in 2022, was the subject of delays and issues before this past weekend. Last September, Puck’s Dylan Byers reported there were creative differences between the filmmakers and the network — and even between Lee and Kaepernick — over whether the focus should be on Kaepernick or on Black athletes and social justice. Byers reported the film included “incendiary critiques of conservative politicians and Donald Trump” and “tackles the history of Black athletes in professional sports, as well as the larger cultural conversation around social justice and police brutality.”
In October, Puck’s Matthew Belloni reported that the project — which was going to be seven parts and called “Da Saga of Colin Kaepernick” — was close to being completed, but wouldn’t appear on ESPN for at least a year. Belloni also reported that ESPN was open to allowing the project to be shopped elsewhere.
Now comes the news that the project is dead — at least at ESPN. There is a possibility it could eventually land somewhere else.
But what happened with ESPN?
With few specifics, general comments, and an apparent NDA, there is plenty of speculation and questions.
“Of course,” Awful Announcing’s Sam Neumann wrote, “the timing is hard to ignore.”
Just this month, in an unprecedented deal, ESPN acquired the NFL Network and the rights to the league’s RedZone Channel in a deal that will eventually lead to the NFL owning a 10% stake in ESPN. As soon as that deal was announced, there were questions about whether the network’s coverage of the league would be affected, seeing as how they were partners.
One would guess that the documentary would have at least questioned whether NFL owners blackballed Kaepernick from the league following his protests. In addition, there likely could have been other topics that would have painted the NFL in a poor light when it came to Kaepernick’s story.
Would that fall under the umbrella of “creative differences?”
In addition, it cannot be ignored that the deal between the NFL and ESPN will ultimately need regulatory approval from the Trump administration. And Trump, one would also guess, would come up prominently in a documentary discussing Kaepernick and racial protests.
Back in 2017, when protests were in the news, Trump, who was president at the time, said, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”
Calling the players that name led to further protests from players.
Who knows if any of this played a role in ESPN walking away from this project? As reported, issues with the docuseries have apparently gone back for quite some time, perhaps well before the NFL-ESPN deal was in the works. Perhaps ESPN didn’t think the series was any good, or that the focus was off. Or, there is always the possibility that they felt it wasn’t journalistically sound.
Still, fairly or unfairly, the timing of this latest news can’t help but raise some eyebrows.
Oh, one more thing to at least acknowledge. Lee did appear on ESPN’s “First Take” last week, along with actor Denzel Washington, in part to promote their new movie “Highest 2 Lowest.” So Lee must not be too angry at ESPN.
