Colin Kaepernick wins Amnesty International's most prestige award.

Courtesy of Time Magazine:  

Colin Kaepernick may not have a job on the football field, but much of the world is still cheering for him. 

Amnesty International, the global human rights organization, gave Kaepernick its highest honor — the 2018 Ambassador of Conscience Award — in Amsterdam on Saturday. Past winners of the award, which “celebrates individuals and groups who speak out for justice,” include former South Africa president Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, the education activist from Pakistan who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, and rock group U2. 

The organization recognized Kaepernick for his protest against police violence: his action, kneeling during the national anthem before NFL games, sparked a movement replicated across America and the world, starting a debate about free speech and patriotism that was inflamed by the President of the United States, one of Kaepernick’s most relentless critics. 

“When high-profile people choose to take a stand for human rights, it emboldens others,” says Augusta Quiney, Amnesty International’s director of Art for Amnesty, a program that works with artists and entertainers on human rights activism. “For us, this is an opportunity to be on the right side of history.”

By the way they don't mention it very much in the new but athletes are still taking a knee all over the country.

And that includes ex-athletes.

#ThursdayThoughts This is why I #TakeAKnee #StephonClark pic.twitter.com/XMe9qSLzMY

— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) March 30, 2018

Colin Kaepernick may have lost the opportunity to play for the NFL forever as far as we know.

But being remembered in the fight for justice is far more prestigious than being remembered for passes thrown or touchdowns scored anytime.

Well, at least in my book.