Summary
Overview
Dax Shepard interviews former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick about his new book 'The Perilous Fight,' which chronicles his life story from childhood through adoption into a white family, his football career, and the events leading up to and following his famous anthem protest. They discuss Kaepernick's experiences with racism, finding his identity as a biracial adopted child, his athletic journey from high school to the NFL, and the systemic issues in professional football.
Growing Up Different: Race, Adoption, and Childhood Trauma
Kaepernick opens up about being adopted at five weeks old into an all-white family in Wisconsin and later moving to Turlock, California. He shares a traumatic experience at age eight when neighborhood kids tied him to a rose tree and called him racial slurs. This incident became a turning point where he realized he couldn't rely on his parents to understand or address the racism he faced, forcing him to navigate these challenges alone and develop early survival instincts.
- Kaepernick was adopted at five weeks old by a white family in Milwaukee after they lost two biological children to congenital heart defects
- At age eight, neighborhood kids tied him to a rose tree and used racial slurs against him
- He chose not to tell his parents about the incident because he didn't know if they would have his back
- This traumatic event taught him pattern recognition to identify threatening situations and protect himself
- His parents gave him superficial acknowledgments of his blackness (like a black doll) but lacked the depth to address cultural differences
" I can't tell my parents. I don't know if they're going to have my back in this situation. I had to deal with it by myself. And I ran upstairs, got cleaned up and came downstairs like nothing happened. "
" You start picking up all of the cues that lead to behaviors. So you may not be a hundred percent. This is what it is, but you may pick up on, oh, I've seen these behaviors before. "
Athletic Heroes: Allen Iverson's Unapologetic Blackness
Kaepernick discusses how Allen Iverson became his hero in middle school because Iverson refused to conform to the NBA's unwritten dress code expectations. While other franchise players like Jordan and Pippen wore suits, Iverson showed up as himself and still dominated on the court. This gave young Kaepernick permission to be unapologetically Black in spaces that demanded assimilation, showing that excellence and authenticity could coexist.
- In middle school, Kaepernick fell in love with Allen Iverson as a role model
- Iverson refused to wear suits to games like other franchise players (Jordan, Pippen) were doing
- Iverson showed up authentically while still being one of the best players in the NBA
- This mirrored Kaepernick's own struggle to show up authentically within his house and community
" Someone who is unapologetically himself. He shows up in a world that tells him to conform and tells him to assimilate. And he's like, no, this is who I am. "
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