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San Francisco 49er quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, was recently voted by his teammates the prestigious Len Eshmont Award for inspiration and courage. This contradicts previously held assumptions that his protest against racial injustice in America caused irredeemable discord or rancor among his fellow players. While not every player or coach on the team may have agreed with Kaepernick's kneeling down for the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before every game, they apparently agreed that what he did took courage, conviction, and a commitment to social justice that is rare among the modern-day athlete.

The Eshmont Award, is given to the teammate who "best exemplifies the inspirational and courageous play of Len Eshmont, an original member of the 1946 49ers team," according to the team website.

49ers wide receiver Torrey Smith discussed some of the criticism Kaepernick has received, saying: "Colin has handled that situation better than anyone could have imagined. It hasn't been a distraction in our locker room, and it probably helped him open up to a lot of our team and our teammates better. He's been very open in communication about that as well as football."

When Kaepernick first took a knee -- after an exhibition game or two of sitting on the bench while the national anthem played -- he started a conversation that reverberated across the country. And, he followed up his stance by willingly engaging his fellow players and the media in discussions about why he was taking his action. Whatever the question, or the hostility of the questioners – especially during road games – Kaepernick was willing to patiently take on all comers and thoughtfully respond. On several occasions, he provocatively wore tee shirts emblazoned with the likenesses of Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X and Fidel Castro, which also sparked noteworthy exchanges with the press.

Kaepernick's protest sparked a national conversation, and gradually picking up steam and support, resonating across the country. Not only did several other National Football League players follow his example and/or created their own responses, but high school and college athletes, band members and cheerleading squads also held protests. Kaepernick's protest sparked notice from President Obama, who gave his support, and then-Republican presidential candidate, and now President-elect, Donald Trump, who basically told the quarterback to leave the country if he was so dissatisfied. There were death threats and many commentators openly questioned Kaepernick's patriotism.

In a Facebook post early on, I noted that Kaepernick was not only making headlines in the Bay Area, but across the country as well. Questions were raised "about Kaepernick's girlfriend, Nessa Diab, a New York radio personality, MTV star and a Muslim, and what her political influences might be." There were stories about "Kaepernick and Diab's donation of $60,000 worth of school backpacks to kids in Harlem and the South Bronx." An extraordinary moment came when U.S. women's soccer national-team member Megan Rapinoe took a knee before a Seattle Reign game as "a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he's standing for right now.'" Rapinoe noted that "its actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated," and she added. "As a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag sand not have it protect all your liberties. … It's important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this."

Kaepernick not only called attention to racial injustice in this country in the twenty-first century, but by kneeling down for the Star Spangled Banner, he focused attention on the national anthem's troubled origin story and the blatantly racist third stanza, which fortunately rarely gets sung, but unfortunately rarely gets the attention it deserves.

In an early September story The New York Times' Jennifer Schuessler explored that issue in a story headlined "Is the National Anthem Racist? Beyond the Debate Over Colin Kaepernick." She quoted journalist Jon Schwarz, writing in The Intercept, who pointed out that the lyrics, written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812, was "a celebration of slavery." Schuessler also spoke to Mark Clague, a musicologist at the University of Michigan and the founding board chairman of the Star Spangled Music Foundation, who is writing a book about the anthem, and who rejected the charge of racism.

Here is the third stanza:

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion

A home and a Country should leave us no more?

Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

"In other words," theroot.com's Jason Johnson wrote on early July: "Key was saying that the blood of all the former slaves and "hirelings" on the battlefield will wash away the pollution of the British invaders. With Key still bitter that some black soldiers got the best of him a few weeks earlier, 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is as much a patriotic song as it is a diss track to black people who had the audacity to fight for their freedom. Perhaps that's why it took almost 100 years for the song to become the national anthem."

Beginning in September, when Kaepernick's protest first came to light,

I tried to keep up with his actions, and the responses to it:

September 6 -- Criticism of Kaepernick's National Anthem Protest Is Proof of Racism Itself

September 14 -- Kaepernick Stands Up Against Racism by Sitting Down

September 21 -- Will Kaepernick's Protest Against Racism Spread to Baseball?

September 23 -- Death Threats For Kaepernick

October 17 -- Justice Ginsburg's Weak Walk-Back of Her Scathing and Uniformed Criticism of Kaepernick's National Anthem Protest

November 3 -- Colin Kaepernick Devoting Money and Time to Youth With "Know Your Rights Camp"

November 16 -- Elections Matter: Why Colin Kaepernick Should Have Voted

2016 will be remembered for many things including Donald Trump's triumph in the presidential election, wanton police killings of unarmed black men, the rise of white nationalism and the alt-right in the U.S., refugees streaming out of the war-torn Middle East, a sharp turn to the right in several European countries, Brexit, and the loss of so many cultural icons, including Prince, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen. But loss wasn't the only thing that defined the past year; the rebirth of social activism amongst athletes is something that should be celebrated, and it is undeniable that Kaepernick helped lead the way.