The Washington Post Can’t Quit Colin Kaepernick

A WaPo column inexplicably tried to frame the former 49ers QB as central to Super Bowl LX.

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The Washington Post is barely hanging on by a thread after the latest round of mass layoffs. But if you wanted or needed another reason why that's the case (though it should be obvious to everyone by now), the paper happily obliged by posting a lengthy column ahead of the Super Bowl about… wait for it… Colin Kaepernick. 

That sounds like a Babylon Bee headline. A dying (arguably dead) newspaper that just shuttered its sports department decided to invoke the name of Kaepernick, who hasn't played in the NFL in nearly a decade, to discuss the Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots. Kaepernick didn't play for either of those franchises. 

The Post decided to make the connection by noting that the former NFL quarterback played for the San Francisco 49ers, whose stadium in Santa Clara serves as the site for this year's Super Bowl. Uh, ok. 

The author, Adam Kilgore, didn't just mention Kaepernick, though. He called the former 49ers quarterback "the most relevant figure to Super LX." 

The most relevant figure to Super LX. 

Let that sink in. 

The article reads like parody. 

"The current moment and the Super Bowl’s location provide a platform to examine the legacies of Kaepernick’s protest," Kilgore writes. 

No, it doesn't, Adam. The Super Bowl's location provides the perfect platform for fans to continue to ignore Kaepernick, as we have been doing for the better part of the past 10 years. The only reason he still comes up in conversation is that people like you insist on writing nonsense like this. 

Colin Kaepernick with inset image of The Washington Post building and a protester with a sign that says "Save the Post."

A Washington Post Super Bowl LX column framed Colin Kaepernick’s legacy as central to the game for some reason. 

(Getty Images)

Kilgore even admits that later in the article: "It has not been a topic at the Super Bowl." 

Man, this must have been tough for Kilgore. He wanted so badly for Kaepernick to be a topic ahead of the Super Bowl. And when he wasn't, for good reason, Kilgore probably had to kill his column idea. 

Then he decided, like the hero he is, "No, I'm writing it anyway. Everyone else be damned. Someone has to strap on a cape and summon Colin Kaepernick's name, apropos of nothing." 

I have to bring up the Babylon Bee again because CEO Seth Dillon recently made the perfect post on X about the Washington Post. 

Aha! Perhaps Kilgore is playing the long game here. Maybe he saw Dillon's post and thought, "Hey, that describes me perfectly, and I need a new job!" 

Super Bowl week is about the teams, the matchup, and the spectacle. It's about celebrating the end of football season, the most popular sport (by far) in the United States. The fact that the Washington Post decided to drag Kaepernick back up for clicks and attention highlights exactly why the newspaper is all but finished. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.