Jim Harbaugh speaks out on Colin Kaepernick boycotting the national anthem

It’s the story that has swept the nation, one that has become bigger than just sports, and trickled into broader culture. It is Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem at Friday’s 49ers preseason game. And his double-down on Sunday, where he said that he plans to continue to do the same.

Again, the news has divided folks nationwide, and since it broke, it seems as though everyone has been asked to weigh-in with their opinion on Kaepernick’s actions. Well, everyone except a guy who might just know him better than anyone else: Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh took the podium for the first time since the Kaepernick news broke last week, and it didn’t take long for someone to ask the former 49ers coach for his opinion on Kaepernick’s stance.

From there, Harbaugh gave a short, but straight-forward answer.

A short time later, he later clarified the answer on Twitter, saying: 

Clearly, it appears as though Harbaugh feels like he mis-spoke somewhat in his initial statement, but at the same time, we should give him credit for both answering the question, and then taking the time to clarify when he felt like his message might have been misconstrued. It would have been easy for Harbaugh to drop a "no comment" or simply say "Colin doesn't play for me anymore" but he did speak up, and explain what he thought.

The only question now, which is unrelated to Harbaugh, is what's next for his former pupil. 

As Kaepernick has said, he will continue to use silent protest to express his emotions. 

But according to Fox's Jay Glazer, his time in San Francisco could be coming to an end soon.