College Football HQ

Colin Kaepernick to serve as honorary captain at Michigan football spring game

Colin Kaepernick and Jim Harbaugh will reunite at the Michigan Wolverines spring football game.
James Parks|
Colin Kaepernick to serve as honorary captain at Michigan football spring game
Colin Kaepernick to serve as honorary captain at Michigan football spring game

College football teams often bring guests on campus for their spring games and name them honorary captains, even when those players aren't former alums. That's the case at Michigan, which announced it will host Colin Kaepernick at its Maize and Blue Game on Saturday, April 2.

Kaepernick has no official ties with the Michigan football program, but does with head coach Jim Harbaugh — the two worked together on the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14. The two will reunite in Ann Arbor, where Kaepernick will serve as a honorary captain for the Wolverines' scrimmage.

Kaepernick played his college football career at Nevada, where he passed for 10,098 yards and ran for 4,112 yards, scoring 82 touchdowns as a passer and 59 additional scores as a rusher.

A second-round draft pick by San Francisco in 2011, Kaepernick passed for 12,271 yards and 72 touchdowns with 30 interceptions. He ran for 2,300 yards with 13 additional touchdowns, and led the 49ers to an appearance in Super bowl XLVII following the 2013 season, in which he passed for 24 touchdowns.

Kaepernick gained international attention in 2016 when he sat on the bench during the playing of the national anthem during an exhibition game. The move was an act of protest against excessive actions by police against minorities across the country.

From there, he extended his protest to kneeling before games during the anthem, and sparked a larger movement of players doing the same.

Kaepernick opted out of his contract when it became evident the 49ers were going to release him after the 2016 season. He hasn't played in the NFL since, but has been working to get back into the league in that time, hosting personal workouts, including one recently for the Seattle Seahawks.

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.

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