Colin Kaepernick, the Integrated NFL and When Protest Works

In 1961, Walter Beach III was playing with the American Football League’s Boston Patriots when they were scheduled to travel for an away game down South. Beach, a defensive cornerback, looked at the team’s itinerary and noticed that the black and white players would be staying in separate facilities.

“My particular thing was, I'm under contract to play football, not to be segregated against," recalls Beach.