Colin Kaepernick has added another major accomplishment to his résumé — this time outside football.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback’s new memoir, The Perilous Fight, has debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list, landing atop the hardcover nonfiction rankings following its September 15 release.
Kaepernick celebrated the achievement on social media after the ranking was announced.
“#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER”
He also thanked readers who purchased the memoir and attended stops on his book tour, adding that the achievement had been a long time coming.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he wrote.
Published by Legacy Lit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, The Perilous Fight was written by Kaepernick in collaboration with journalist and author Nick Chiles.
The 288-page memoir traces Kaepernick’s childhood, football career and evolution as an activist, while also revisiting the events surrounding his departure from professional football.
An audiobook edition narrated by Kaepernick was released alongside the hardcover and e-book versions.
Kaepernick tells his story
Kaepernick entered the NFL after the 49ers selected him in the second round of the 2011 draft. He eventually became San Francisco’s starting quarterback and helped lead the team to Super Bowl XLVII.
His career took a dramatic turn in 2016 when he began sitting during the national anthem as a protest against racial injustice and police violence against Black Americans.
After speaking with former NFL player and Green Beret Nate Boyer, Kaepernick began kneeling during the anthem instead.
The protest quickly became a national debate over race, policing, patriotism and athletes using their platforms for social causes.
Kaepernick has not appeared in an NFL regular-season game since the 2016 season.
In The Perilous Fight, he offers his perspective on the protest, the events that followed and his eventual departure from professional football.
The memoir also explores his upbringing as a Black child adopted by white parents, his experiences growing up in predominantly white environments and the development of his interest in Black history and racial justice.
Among the books that influenced him was The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which Kaepernick has identified as influential in shaping his worldview.
The memoir arrives roughly a decade after his national anthem protest became one of the most recognizable moments in modern sports.
Since leaving football, Kaepernick has continued building projects outside the NFL, including Know Your Rights Camp, Kaepernick Publishing and Kaepernick Media.
His story was also previously adapted for television through Netflix’s Colin in Black & White, which explored his teenage years and experiences surrounding race and identity.
Now, with The Perilous Fight sitting at No. 1 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list, Kaepernick is reaching readers through his own account of the journey that took him from NFL quarterback to one of the most prominent athlete-activists of his generation.
