National Anthem Protester Colin Kaepernick Files Grievance Against NFL

In the latest chapter in the national anthem protest saga, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL. 

Kaepernick believes he has not been signed to an NFL team as a result of collusion by owners of the league after he began protesting during the national anthem in August 2016.  

The former quarterback said he wanted to bring attention to the mistreatment of African Americans by police. 

Kaepernick started sitting and then began to kneel during the anthem, but it did not gain national attention until the third preseason game. 

It started a national conversation about political activism after other players followed in Kaepernick's footsteps.

Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers after last season and remains a free agent. 

Now, he is filing a demand for arbitration.

"Multiple NFL head coaches and general managers stated that they wanted to sign Mr. Kaepernick, only to mysteriously go silent with no explanation and no contract offer made to Mr. Kaepernick," reads the claim.

Mark Geragos, one of Kaepernick's attorneys, said in a statement posted on Twitter Sunday that he filed the grievance "only after pursuing every possible avenue with all NFL teams and their executives."

"If the NFL (as well as all professional sports leagues) is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful political protest - which the owners themselves made great theater imitating weeks ago - should not be punished," Geragos said in the statement. "And athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the executive branch of our government. Such a precedent threatens all patriotic Americans and harkens back to our darkest days as a nation."

The NFL players' union said it would support the grievance.

The anthem protests escalated to a new level after President Trump launched a Twitter campaign blasting NFL players who refuse to honor the national anthem, calling on their coaches and team owners to fire those players.

In the aftermath, dozens of players began protesting the national anthem. Americans then responded to those player protests by tuning out, and viewer ratings for NFL games have dropped.

The Nielsen company reports ratings have been steadily declining for weeks since the controversy began.