Blaine Gabbert

49ers give Colin Kaepernick prestigious team award

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:48 p.m. ET

Fansided, Mark Gunnels/Fansided

Despite receiving tons of backlash throughout the course of the season, Colin Kaepernick has support within in the locker room.

No matter what happens Sunday against the division rival Seattle Seahawks, this will go down as one of the worst seasons in San Francisco 49ers history. To be fair, expectations were very low before the season as first-year head coach Chip Kelly was dealt with the worst roster in the National Football League. Nonetheless, there’s Colin Kaepernick.

The most intriguing storyline surrounding San Francisco was the ongoing protest provided by Kaepernick, who decided to kneel during the national anthem for the entire season in an attempt to bring awareness to police brutality and racial inequalities in the United States.

As expected, Kaepernick received a plethora of backlash from players, coaches, fans, and media alike but none of that mattered because he had support from the individuals within the locker room. Teammates Eric Reid and Eli Harold kneeled with him throughout the season as well.

While everyone in the locker room may not have agreed with Kaepernick’s motives, it doesn’t mean they didn’t respect him as a man, which is clear by this prestigious team award he received. Every single year, the 49ers vote on different awards, which all have different meanings. Kaepernick was awarded the ‘Len Eshmont award’. This exemplifies the “inspirational and courageous” play of Len Eshmont.

Eshmont played for the original 49ers team in 1946. Also, he scoring the franchise’s first ever touchdown. In 1957, Eshmont passed away due to Hepatitis.

During the early part of the season, Kaepernick battled several injuries, but as he recovered, Kelly decided to insert him back into the starting lineup. Blaine Gabbert was awful, who had a touchdown to interception ratio of five to six.

Kickoff against the Seahawks is set for 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday.