SANTA CLARA — Where’s Colin Kaepernick? He’s not in the NFL, and he initially was not in a 49ers photo gallery rekindling great memories of their rivalry with the Green Bay Packers.
For that, the 49ers apologized Friday and hastened to make amends.
“We’re looking into right now how that happened and were trying to rectify it,” general manager John Lynch said on KNBR 680-AM. “I just learned of it. Not something I’m proud of. It’s a glaring omission and we’re working to get it fixed.”
Beating the Packers three times made for epic moments in Kaepernick’s six-year tenure with the 49ers, a stint that ended last year. He’s since been out of the league and has filed a collusion lawsuit, claiming his social activism has kept anyone from signing him.
Since Friday’s story broke about Kaepernick’s exclusion from the gallery, two photos of him (running) were added to the 51-photo post.
“Unfortunately there were a handful of obvious misses in this gallery posted by our website team and we appreciate them being brought to our attention,” the team said in a statement. “The 49ers organization has tremendous respect and gratitude for the contributions Colin made to our team over the years
“We have fond memories of those games and that should have been displayed on our website. This oversight does not properly reflect the appreciation our ownership and this team have for Colin.”
Lynch reitterated that stance in his radio interview Friday morning: “From ownership on down, we’ve got so much respect for his contributions to this franchise. Against the Packers, anyone who’s a fan of football, particularly 49ers fans, knows he has a great part of history against the Packers.”
https://twitter.com/MichaelWilhoite/status/1050814533562904576
The 49ers openly supported Kaepernick as his final season came to an end amid his controversial decision to kneel during the national anthem. That support included matching his $1 million pledge toward social-equality programs.
Although he opted out of his contract before the 2017 season, he did so knowing the 49ers would have otherwise released him rather than pay a $14.5 million salary. Even without him on the roster, the 49ers did include pictures of Kaepernick in 2017 photo galleries, specifically seven throwback versions, a team spokesman noted.
Kaepernick’s biggest game came in his 49ers playoff debut, when he rushed for 181 yards (the most ever by a quarterback) and produced four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) in a 45-31 divisional win over the Packers. He followed that up by passing for 412 yards and three touchdowns in a 2013 season-opening win over Green Bay. Kaepernick and that 2013 team then ventured to Lambeau Field to notch a wild-card win.
On Wednesday, Kaepernick was honored with the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal by Harvard University, adding to accolades that also included Amnesty International’s most prestigious honor earlier this year.
The 49ers (1-4) are on a three-game losing streak as they return to face the Packers (2-2-1) on Monday night. They have made no attempts to re-sign Kaepernick, and coach Kyle Shanahan remained steadfast in that even after Jimmy Garoppolo sustained a season-ending knee injury Sept. 23.
“There was (talk) last year and I think I made that decision, just with the style of offense that we wanted to go with,” Shanahan said. Sept. 24. “That’s kind of what I said last year and it’s kind of the same situation now.
” … C.J. (Beathard) is our guy and we have Nick Mullens backing him up. So, when you get into a third and fourth guy, whoever that is, you’d like to bring in guys that you felt you didn’t have to change as much of your offense for.”
