Colin Kaepernick is an American football quarterback, author, publisher, and civil rights activist. His playing career included leading the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. His books address identity, sporting choices, and activism through forms ranging from children’s picture books to graphic memoir and adult autobiography. His sports-related memoirs include Change the Game and The Perilous Fight.
Kaepernick’s graphic memoir Change the Game appeared in March 2023, written with Eve L. Ewing and illustrated by Orlando Caicedo. It returns to his teenage years and the choice between baseball and football. The Perilous Fight, published in September 2026, follows a wider span of his life, connecting his upbringing, NFL career, and decision to protest racial injustice during the national anthem. The two works address different stages of his development rather than retelling an identical period in the same format.
Colin Kaepernick Books
| Book | Year | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Colin Kaepernick | 2023 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Perilous Fight | 2026 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
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He founded Kaepernick Publishing in 2019 to publish work by writers and creators with diverse perspectives. Its list includes children’s books, memoir, and edited collections. Kaepernick’s own projects include I Color Myself Different, illustrated by Eric Wilkerson, and We Are Free, You & Me, written with Nessa and illustrated by Gladys Jose. His editorial work includes Abolition for the People and, with Robin D. G. Kelley and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Our History Has Always Been Contraband.
His activities beyond playing have included founding Know Your Rights Camp and developing media projects. He co-produced Colin in Black and White with Ava DuVernay, a television series drawing on his adolescence. Recognition for his advocacy has included Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award and Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. These projects provide context for books in which his sporting history is connected with questions of racial identity and public action.
Football Books
Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game: This graphic memoir follows Kaepernick during high school as he weighs a promising baseball future against his ambition to play football. Written with Eve L. Ewing and illustrated by Orlando Caicedo, it examines the expectations placed on him and his developing sense of identity. The story centers on learning to make choices according to his own convictions. Published in March 2023.
The visual storytelling in Change the Game is aimed at readers from adolescence onward. Its central decision takes place before Kaepernick’s professional career, when recruitment and outside advice offered different possible futures. The collaboration distinguishes the author’s remembered experiences from the literary and visual work used to present them: Ewing shares the writing credit, while Caicedo creates the illustrations.
The Perilous Fight: Kaepernick recounts his upbringing in Turlock, California, his development as an athlete, and the experiences behind his public protest during the national anthem. The memoir connects professional success with his changing understanding of race and power. It also addresses the consequences of activism and the ideas that influenced the direction of his life beyond the NFL. Published in September 2026.
The Perilous Fight places those earlier experiences within a longer account. Its publisher identifies childhood in a white adoptive family, professional sports, reading, and political awareness as connected parts of the narrative. The memoir describes the relationship between Kaepernick’s personal decisions and the wider institutions around him.