Colin Kaepernick (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Gordon Parks Foundation)
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is back in the news this year as he is waves in the tech world with his latest venture.

The former NFL quarterback announced the launch of his comic book company, Lumi, which has raised $4 million and is at least partially powered by AI.

“It allows us to help fill in the skill gaps of creators,” Kaepernick said. “We are now building in that direction to try to open that up and democratize storytelling.”

Unlike previous years, we haven’t been inundated with a bunch of claims that he wants to return to the NFL, but he is never too far away from making headlines.

Such was the case last year when his background came into question.

Colin Kaepernick discussed his relationship with his parents, who are white, and some of the problematic things his mother, Teresa Kaepernick, would say to him.

Kaepernick revealed that when he had cornrows as a child, his mother said, “Your hair is not professional, you look like a little thug.”

“I know my parents love me, but there were still very problematic things that I went through,” he told CBS Mornings. When he was thinking of getting cornrows in his hair, she dismissed the idea, telling him he would look “not professional” and like “a little thug.”

“I think it was important to show [readers] that, ‘No, this can happen in your own home.’ And how do we move forward collectively while addressing the racism that is being perpetuated,” he said in 2023.

Colin Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016 after his refusal to stand for the national anthem ahead of games to protest police brutality and racial injustice.

Colin Kaepernick’s Netflix Series Revisited Harsh Moment During Childhood

Colin Kaepernick (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for GQ)

Back in 2023, Kaepernick spoke about some problematic childhood instances, including his adoptive mother saying his cornrows made him look like “a little thug.”

In “Colin in Black and White,” a Netflix series that revisited his problematic childhood, a 2021 scene depicted the moment the former NFL player’s mother called him a “thug” over his hair.