Knight försvarar beslutet att sjunga på Super Bowl

Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and author. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight is best known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Edward Patten and William Guest. Knight has recorded two number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles ("Midnight Train to Georgia" and "That's What Friends Are For"), eleven number-one R&B singles, and six number-one R&B albums. She has won seven Grammy Awards and is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with The Pips. She also recorded the theme song for the 1989 James Bond film Licence To Kill. Knight is also listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Colin Rand Kaepernick ( KAP-ər-nik; born November 3, 1987) is an American political activist and professional American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He last played with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Kaepernick played college football for the University of Nevada where he was named the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Offensive Player of the Year twice and became the only player in NCAA Division I FBS history to amass 10,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in a career. After graduating, he was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Kaepernick began his professional football career as a backup quarterback to Alex Smith, and became the 49ers' starter in the middle of the 2012 season after Smith suffered a concussion. He then remained the team's starting quarterback for the rest of the season, leading the team to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1994. During the 2013 season, his first full season as a starter, Kaepernick helped the 49ers reach the NFC Championship Game. Over the next three seasons, Kaepernick lost and won back his starting job, with the 49ers missing the playoffs for three years consecutively. He opted out of his contract with the 49ers to become a free agent after the 2016 season. During the 49ers' third preseason game in 2016, Kaepernick began to sit during the playing of the U.S. national anthem prior to games, rather than stand as is customary, as a protest against racial injustice and systematic oppression in the country. The following week, and throughout the regular season, Kaepernick began kneeling during the anthem instead. The actions resulted in a wider protest movement, which intensified in September 2017 after president Donald Trump suggested that NFL owners should fire players who protest the national anthem. In November 2017, Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL and its owners, accusing them of colluding to not hire him after going unsigned prior to the start of the 2017 season. As of the end of the 2018 NFL season, Kaepernick holds the league's second lowest interception percentage (1.77%), ranks fourth in touchdown-to-interception ratio (2.4) and holds NFL records for rushing yards by a quarterback in a game (181) and in a single postseason (264).