Did quarterback Colin Kaepernick, a civil rights activist, say he is boycotting the NFL as long as kicker Harrison Butker is on an NFL team and did he say of Butker, "I don't like him"? No, that's not true: This claim initially appeared in an article on a satirical website known for publishing fabricated content. There is no publicly available or credible evidence to support this claim.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on May 27, 2024. The caption said:
Colin Kaepernick Boycotts NFL As Long As Harrison Butker Is On Team
In a May 11, 2024, commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas, Harrison Butker, who plays for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, made controversial remarks about women, abortion rights, Pride month and "gender ideologies," the Associated Press reported.
Kaepernick, who stopped playing for the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, is known for his activism against police brutality and racial discrimination.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Jun 7 20:58:50 2024 UTC)
In the comment section, the author of this post linked to an Esspots.com article (archived here) titled, "Breaking: Colin Kaepernick Boycotts NFL As Long As Harrison Butker Is On Team, 'I Don't Like Him.'"
The About Us page (archived here) of the Esspots website describes itself as all about "satirical news and commentary":
Welcome to the US page of Esspots (A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody News), your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America.
SpaceXMania.com is also a satire website.
Lead Stories searched for this claim on Google News, using keywords visible here, and found no credible documents or reporting to corroborate the claim about Kaepernick.
Lead Stories fact checks that mention the Esspots website platform and SpaceXMania are here and here.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks that mention Colin Kaepernick and Harrison Butker can be found here and here.
