False claim Colin Kaepernick was fired from high school coaching job | Fact check

Gabrielle Settles, USA TODAY
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The claim: Colin Kaepernick was fired from high school coaching job

A Nov. 18 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a photo of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick surrounded by members of the media.

"Colin Kaepernick was fired from his new job as a high school coach after only six games," reads the post's caption, which includes an unattributed quote: "The kids couldn't stand him."

The post was shared more than 200 times in three days.

More from the USA TODAY Fact-Check Team:

Our rating: False

There are no credible reports that Kaepernick has been coaching a high school football team. The claim stems from a satirical website.

Report about Kaepernick coaching high school team is satire

The Facebook post’s claim originates from an article published by Latherland, a satirical website that is part of the America's Last Line of Defense parody network. The website includes a disclaimer that states "Everything on this website is fiction."

There are no credible reports that Kaepernick coached a high school team. The former quarterback currently works as a civil rights activist and last played in the NFL in 2016. He remains a free agent as he seeks a return to the league.

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Kaepernick played for the San Francisco 49ers for six seasons until 2016, when he began kneeling during the national anthem at the start of games to protest against police brutality and racism. It was a move sharply criticized by many, including former President Donald Trump.

Kaepernick and Eric Reid, another player who joined in kneeling, settled a lawsuit in 2019 against the NFL over claims that they were both denied positions in the league after their protests.

The Facebook post is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are captured and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.

USA TODAY has debunked other false claims about the former quarterback, including that the Jacksonville Jaguars signed him in 2021.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Colin Kaepernick wasn't fired from high school coaching job | Fact check