Sports Illustrated Editor Explains Why Colin Kaepernick Was Omitted From Controversial 'Sports United' Cover

Sports Illustrated Executive Editor Steve Cannella recently spoke on the recently-released "A Nation Divided, Sports United" issue of the magazine, which addresses the current protests taking place in both the NBA and NFL.

In a video put on the publication's website, Cannella discussed the cover and why Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers athlete who started the protest back in 2016 by taking a knee during the National Anthem, was omitted from it.

"In some ways, even though his picture is not there, Colin Kaepernick is there; I think we all know that," Cannella said. "Colin Kaepernick — for lack of a better word — was looming over everything that happened this past weekend, and looms over many issues in society right now."

"This debate, this issue, this protest movement, has sort of evolved even beyond Colin Kaepernick, and I think we saw a lot of people join the movement, for lack of a better term, this weekend," Cannella added. "That's what we were trying to capture with this cover."

Of course, the protest movement has not evolved beyond Kaepernick, considering people are still criticizing him for even taking a knee in the first place (some of those people have even purchased his jersey and used it as a doormat for their bars), as well as distorting the narrative of why he did it in the first place — to protest against police brutality and institutionalized racism in America.

However, fellow athletes have called out the cover for not including Kaepernick. Golden State Warriors player Steph Curry said the following to reporters after a recent practice on the matter:

That was terrible. It's just kind of capitalizing on the hoopla in the media and all of that nonsense. The real people that understand exactly what has been going on and who has really been active and vocal and truly making a difference. If you don't have Kaepernick front and center on that, something is wrong. It's kind of hard to see how certain narratives take place, being prisoners of the moment. But at the end of the day, that stuff really doesn't matter. It's about the true message really highlighting the people that are doing the right things.