San Francisco 49ers star Colin Kaepernick has revealed he received death threats for protesting the national anthem in recent weeks.
His protest over racial oppression and police brutality in the United States has been well documented and has been joined by other NFL star.
In response to death threats he has claimed to have received, he said: "To me, if something like that were going to happen, you’ve proved my point. It would be loud and clear for everyone why it happened.
"That would move this movement forward at a greater speed than what it is even now. Granted, I don’t want that to happen. But that’s the realization of what could happen."
Despite the scores of athletes who have thrown their weight behind the protest, Kaepernick admitted to having been on the receiving end of racial abuse during last week's game in Carolina.
"There’s a lot of racism in this country disguised as patriotism and people want to take everything back to the flag but that’s not what we’re talking about," he continued.
"We’re talking about racial discrimination, inequalities and injustices that happen across the nation."
The latest incident of these cases was the shooting of unarmed black man Terence Crutcher who was shown on dashcam to be walking away from two police officers to his stalled SUV with his hands in the air.
As he approaches the window, one officer fires a stun gun, while another fatally shoots him.
"His car was broken down, he was looking for help and he got murdered," Kaepernick said.
"That’s a perfect example of what this is about. I think it will be very telling what happens with the officers that killed him because everybody’s eyes will be on this."
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