Colin Kaepernick’s performance on the field doesn’t change the impact of his protest

This Sunday, the microscope over Colin Kaepernick’s performance on the football field will be greater than it ever was during his peak. It all started back in August, when he first took a knee during the national anthem in the preseason. Now the scrutiny will reach a new level after San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly announced that Kaepernick would start against the Buffalo Bills.

The anticipation for Kaepernick to start has grown as Blaine Gabbert and the 49ers’ offense struggled through the first five weeks of the season. At 1-4, the team had to make some kind of change. Kelly himself called it a “football decision.”

Kaepernick was beaten out for the starting position prior to the start of the year. Now that he’s back under center, many are questioning just what he has left in him. He’s only 28, but his on-field performance has declined in comparison to the 29 games he played during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

The gradual demise of the 49ers’ defense and tensions between former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and the front office certainly didn’t help. It led to an 8-8 season, and Harbaugh’s exit in 2014. The following year, Kaepernick and the 49ers went 2-6 before then-head coach Jim Tomsula pulled him as the starter.

Kaepernick is by no means expected to be the magic solution to what is the second-worst offense in the league. He could play the most awful game of his life, but it doesn’t matter how Kaepernick performs. His impact has been made.

Kaepernick has been clear as to why he’s protesting during the national anthem.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL.com’s Steve Wyche. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

This is in reference to the senseless killings of unarmed black people in the United States. Names that turn into hashtags, like Tamir Rice, Laquan McDonald, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Natasha McKenna, Freddie Gray, and Terence Crutcher.

Some have said that, as a backup quarterback, Kaepernick’s role was to be seen and not heard; if he can’t play, why should anyone listen?

The answer when he was a backup is the same as it is now that he’s starting. What happens between the lines in no way takes away from the significance of his pregame protest. The conversation and reach that Kaepernick has generated has motivated other players across the league to do the same.

His former college teammate, linebacker Brandon Marshall of the Denver Broncos, has been taking a knee during the nation anthem, and even lost sponsorships because of it. Players on the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, and Kansas City Chiefs have also protested in their own ways during the anthem. Even U.S. soccer and Seattle Reign FC midfielder Megan Rapinoe took a knee.

Along with protests, there’s been a lot of time and money that’s been donated as a result of Kaepernick’s protest. Kaepernick has pledged $100,000 each month for 10 months to various community organizations, while Marshall created an initiative called #TackleChange on Instagram. Marshall will be donating $300 per tackle he makes to local Denver organizations “that benefit the Denver community and others through the services, awareness and funds they provide for these critical social issues.”

In late September, Iman Shumpert of the Cleveland Cavaliers said that he would raise money for families of those impacted by fatalities at the hands of the police. His goal is to “improve the struggle between the badge and the citizen.”

Because of all of this, the discussion became so much greater than sports. Kaepernick was put on the front page of TIME magazine. It’s become a topic in the current presidential election, criticized by Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and defended by Barack Obama, who said, “protest is fine, but becomes more profound if activists know the change they are seeking.”

It’s inspired many people across the country to protest, or even take time out of their schedules to try to make things better.

None of this would have happened had Kaepernick not initially sat for the national anthem.

The protest, and everything that has risen because of it, is greater than any football game. He’s made that clear himself.

In a centuries-long battle for justice, Kaepernick isn’t exactly the person we expected to bring the next wave of activism. But it doesn’t really matter who the messenger is because the influence he’s had has been nothing short of spectacular. The injustices that black Americans deal with are being discussed, and work is being put in toward change.

Kaepernick started his protest as a backup quarterback. This week, he will continue it as the starter for the 49ers. So now, as opposed to just seeing him kneel during the anthem, the country will see him for four quarters, effectively putting the face of the conversation into every home in America Sunday afternoon for three hours. And whether he goes out there and throws for 300 yards, or throws three interceptions, the movement will endure.

As great of a champion as Muhammad Ali was, his message didn’t always resonate with the majority culture in his time, because when it came down to it he was still a black man in an America that didn’t offer him equality. It wasn’t until after attitudes had shifted that Ali was honored for taking unpopular stances. We still see that today with Kaepernick.

So regardless of how talented any athlete who raises awareness might be, society is only so willing to go out of its comfort zone before men like Ali and Kaepernick are deemed the enemy to many.

Maybe that will change, and maybe it won’t. But Kaepernick has done his part to try to help change the landscape, and that’s all anybody can ask for. Football be damned.