Colin Kaepernick became the first player in NFL history to be flagged for using “inappropriate language” on Sunday night. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback was handed the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after throwing an interception in the fourth quarter, and there was speculation that the flag was thrown because he used the N-word. Kaepernick said that was not the case.
So what did Kaepernick say that referee Carl Cheffers felt could not be tolerated? Nothing, of course.
“I didn’t say anything,” he told reporters after the game, per Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News.
Kaepernick was then asked if he used a slur of any kind, and he said he did not. When asked if he was shocked that Cheffers penalized him, he simply responded “yes.”
We have no way of knowing if Kaepernick used the N-word. What we do know is that the NFL told officials to start throwing flags this season for racist remarks. More specifically, the league is trying to eliminate the use of the N-word on the field. If someone was flagged for using “inappropriate language,” that player in all likelihood said something racist.
The only possible way Kaepernick could be telling the truth is if Cheffers blamed him for a word another player said. That seems pretty unlikely.
[Also see: Steve Young cautions about Colin Kaepernick contract extension]
