A research firm that asks Americans whether they dislike various athletes has found that Colin Kaepernick is now the most-disliked player in the NFL.
Kaepernick, who led the movement to sit out the national anthem, is “disliked a lot” by 29 percent of Americans polled last week.
The last time the poll was taken, two years ago, only 6 percent of Americans disliked Kaepernick a lot. So it’s safe to say the majority of Americans who dislike Kaepernick dislike him because of his anthem protest.
The jump in Kaepernick’s unpopularity comes entirely from whites: In the poll two years ago, 7 percent of whites disliked Kaepernick a lot; now 37 percent of whites dislike Kaepernick a lot. Two years ago 3 percent of African-Americans disliked Kaepernick a lot; now 2 percent of African-Americans dislike Kaepernick a lot.
The next-most-disliked NFL players are Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (22 percent), Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (21 percent), Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (13 percent) and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (10 percent).