--- description: President Donald Trump once again took aim at former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick title: Trump Says NFL Teams Fear a ‘Nasty Tweet’ From Him if They Sign Colin Kaepernick image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32029f764a005498/6988a98eab6d7782c56ab864/colin-kaepernick-starting-quarterback-san-francisco.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump Says NFL Teams Fear a ‘Nasty Tweet’ From Him if They Sign Colin Kaepernick by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 21, 2017 2:15 PM CUT  Colin Kaepernick #7 of the San Francisco 49ers looks on from the sidelines against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half of their NFL football game at Levi's Stadium on October 2, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. Colin Kaepernick #7 of the San Francisco 49ers looks on from the sidelines against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half of their NFL football game at Levi's Stadium on October 2, 2016 in Santa Clara, California.Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 21, 2017 2:15 PM CUT President Donald Trump once again took aim at former San Francisco 49ers quarterback [Colin Kaepernick](http://time.com/4511887/colin-kaepernick-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/ "undefined"). Speaking at a rally in Louisville, Ky., [on Monday night](http://time.com/4707664/trump-republicans-health-care-vote/ "undefined"), Trump appeared to take credit for Kaepernick’s failure to get signed from free agency since he opted out of his contract with the 49ers on March 3. “There was an article today…that NFL owners don’t want to pick him up because they don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump,” the president told the crowd. “You believe that? I just saw that. I said, ‘If I remember that one, I’m gonna report it to the people of Kentucky because they like it when people actually stand for the American flag.’” The article Trump referenced appears to be a [Bleacher Report piece from March 17](http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2698098-colin-kaepernick-sentenced-to-nfl-limbo-for-the-crime-of-speaking-his-mind "undefined") in which an NFL general manager reportedly told the site that “around 10 percent” of teams think Trump will tweet about Kaepernick and the team if he joins. Kaepernick and Trump have [traded blows](http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/donald-trump-fires-back-at-colin-kaepernick-after-qb-calls-him-a-racist/ "undefined") since the quarterback started kneeling during the national anthem before 49ers games last fall. Kaepernick called the then-presidential candidate “openly racist” at a press conference in August, and Trump said at a campaign rally in October the NFL’s ratings were declining because of Kaepernick’s infamous kneeling protests. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4707742/president-trump-colin-kaepernick/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4707742/president-trump-colin-kaepernick/"},"headline":"President Trump Says NFL Teams Fear a ‘Nasty Tweet’ From Him if They Sign Colin Kaepernick","datePublished":"2017-03-21T14:15:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:56:44.954Z","description":"The President reignited the pair's feud at a rally","url":"https://time.com/4707742/president-trump-colin-kaepernick/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32029f764a005498/6988a98eab6d7782c56ab864/colin-kaepernick-starting-quarterback-san-francisco.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32029f764a005498/6988a98eab6d7782c56ab864/colin-kaepernick-starting-quarterback-san-francisco.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dallas Cowboys v San Francisco 49ers","caption":"Colin Kaepernick #7 of the San Francisco 49ers looks on from the sidelines against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half of their NFL football game at Levi's Stadium on October 2, 2016 in Santa Clara, California.","creditText":"Thearon W. 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