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Ava DuVernay And Colin Kaepernick Team Up For Comedy Series About The Athlete’s High School Life

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June 5, 2018

Photo via: Ava DuVernay 

Visionary filmmaker Ava DuVernay has been a long-time supporter of athlete turned activist Colin Kaepernick, and now she is teaming up with the young star to bring part of his story to TV.

In a recent Vanity Fair feature, it was revealed that DuVernay will be working with the former NFL player to create a TV comedy series that centers around his life in high school. She said the series will be like “‘Friday Night Lights’ meets ‘Everybody Hates Chris.’ “What’s not to love?”

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Kaepernick, who is biracial, was born in Wisconsin but raised in Turlock, California after being adopted by two white parents. He was a three-sport athlete at John H. Pitman High School and made the All-State team his senior year for football, basketball and baseball.

His older brother, Kyle, tells The New York Times that he nicknamed Colin Bo Jackson because growing up he was so good at both baseball and football. In fact, he says in high school, colleges were interested in Colin as a baseball pitcher and football quarterback, but he made it clear that football was his first love. It was his brother who also burned DVD’s of the young athlete’s high school highlights and sent them to colleges across the country, which eventually helped him to earn a scholarship to the University of Nevada.

In VH1’s recent special, “Dear Mama: A Love Letter to Moms,” Kaepernick spoke briefly about his life growing up as a young black man adopted by a white family. He also thanked his mom for giving anyone a tongue lashing who spoke ill of him due to his race.

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In 2011, Kaepernick made his NFL dreams a reality when he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. He played for the team until 2016 and quickly became known as far more than an athlete. During his last season with the 49ers, the 30-year-old made a statement by kneeling during the national anthem as a sign of silent protest against the unjust treatment of African Americans and people of color in the United States. Since then, he has taken his activism beyond the field and started the Know Your Rights Camp, which is an organization that is fully funded by the athlete and is dedicated to exposing youth to awareness about higher education, self-empowerment and instructions on how to properly interact with law enforcement. Additionally, Kaepernick has donated $1 million dollars plus all the proceeds from his 2016 jersey sales to organizations working in oppressed communities.

While full details about the comedy series have yet to be disclosed, we’re sure that whatever Kaepernick and DuVernay put together will be worth our attention.

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