“The part that I hope people appreciate and take away in this moment is what [New England Patriots owner] Robert Kraft and what they’re saying by denying Macklemore the opportunity to go out and perform with Ed Sheeran is they are willing to collude,” Kaepernick said on the MeidasTouch podcast. “The [NFL owners] are openly colluding.”

Kaepernick told the MeidasTouch podcast that Kraft and other NFL owners had tried to hound out Macklemore in a similar way they did to him.

“When we filed the grievance, it was like, well, the owners wouldn’t do that,” Kaepernick said. “Everybody just wants to win within the NFL. And the realization is, no. They want to protect their interests. They want to protect their power. They want to protect their money. And they also want people to know that if you take an action that they don’t agree with, they will come for you.”