Former 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick might not have played in Sunday night’s Super Bowl, but he did celebrate the pinnacle of the National Football League’s season by raising money for a group named after convicted cop-killer Assata Shakur.
The Washington Times reports that as part of his post-football career Kaepernick has been raising money for a variety of progressive causes through a program called Million Dollar Pledge. Some of the groups are innocuous, such as pro-education organizations and campaigns to help get kids off the street after school, but at least one, Assata’s Daughters, has more concerning roots.
Assata’s Daugthers bills itself as a “direct action” group that “carries on the tradition of radical liberatory activism encompassed by Assata Shakur.” But Shakur herself was a member of the Black Liberation Army and in 1977 was convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper in a highway shootout. She escaped prison and fled to Cuba, where she remains, evading authorities .- READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [divider][/divider]The NFL has made headlines for all the wrong reason this season as hundreds of players have protested during the national anthem in retaliation to President Donald Trump’s criticism of those that disrespected the flag. Fans began boycotting, the NFL lost millions in revenue, and the ratings ultimately plummeted.
If NBC drew a 47.4 overnight rating for the Super Bowl, that’s down only 3% from last year (48.8 for Pats-Falcons on Fox). Not a dramatic drop. But lowest overnight for a Super Bowl since 2010 though (46.4 for Saints-Colts on CBS in 2010).
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) February 5, 2018
Scoring a 41-33 victory over odds-on favorite Tom Brady and crew, the City of Brotherly Love’s win Sunday also prevented the defending champion Patriots from claiming a sixth Super Bowl to match the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most wins ever.
However, for the NFL and broadcasters pummeled with double-digit ratings drops this season, the number that really matters right now is the 47.4/70 in metered market ratings that yesterday’s Super Bowl delivered. Dipping by a slight 3% from the earliest numbers of last year’s Patriots’ 34-28 comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday’s game is looking to be the eighth highest-rated Super Bowl ever. With more streaming options than ever this year, last night’s game is up 9% in metered market results compared with when the Patriots and Eagles last clashed in the NFL title game, at Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.
However, Sunday’s Super Bowl also saw a decline of 5% in metered market results from the last time NBC had the big game on February 1, 2015, when the Patriots faced off against then-champs the Seattle Seahawks. Overall, last night’s game peaked in the high-stakes fourth quarter with a 52.2/74.
All in all, Super Bowl LII is currently the lowest rated since Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, when the New Orleans Saints thrashed the Indianapolis Colts on CBS. That first Super Bowl appearance and win for the Saints garnered a 46.4 in metered market ratings. – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [divider][/divider]On Sunday night, the Philadelphia Eagles faced off against the New England Patriots to put an end to what has been an incredibly political and drama-filled NFL season.
Hundreds of players have kneeled during the national anthem, President Donald Trump has slammed players for disrespecting the flag and Vice President Mike Pence even walked out of an Indianapolis Colts game after seeing players protest.
However, when three-time Grammy winner Pink opened up the Super Bowl despite announcing that she had the flu and had an extremely rough rehearsal, not a single player kneeled for the national anthem. – READ MORE