Colin Kaepernick's decision to protest the national anthem by either sitting on the bench or taking a knee, as he did during the 49ers' final preseason game, has drawn heated debate on both sides of the issue.

It's also made Kaepernick more popular than ever. His jersey sales at both the NFL and 49ers online shops are quite impressive.

It appears Kap currently possesses the No. 5 highest overall jersey on NFL.com and technically the third-highest player, behind only Cowboys rookie Ezekiel Elliott and Giants wideout Odell Beckham.

Kap is popular. via NFLShop.com

There are also other types of Kaepernick jerseys not much further down -- a custom 49ers jersey is 27th overall and a women's scarlet Kaepernick jersey and a men's white Kaepernick jersey are both ranked in the top 50.

At the 49ers site, he's even more popular. Three of the top six jerseys sold are specifically related to Kaepernick, assuming you even count the Joe Montana throwback T-shirt in the group. It stands to reason the custom jersey is probably getting some Kaepernick action too.

All Kap all the time! via Shop49ers.com



Hat tip to Mike Rosenberg of the Seattle Timesfor noticing the rise of Kaepernick's jersey sales at NFL.com have been climbing.

According to Darren Rovell of ESPN, Kaepernick has sold more gear on 49ers.com in the past week than he has in the past eight months combined.

Life comes at you fast: in December of 2015, Kaepernick's jerseys were slashed on clearance, because it was expected he was out the door. Then Chip Kelly came to town and the possibility of a resurgence for Kap resulted in prices being raised again.

This is not the sort of popularity you would expect for a backup quarterback. It does go to show that it's not just a handful of other athletes and a group of veterans online who are supporting the 49ers quarterback.

Kaepernick's constitutional right to protest has parlayed into a pile of money via jersey sales.