The timing of the announcement of the ESPN-NFL merger and the scrapping of ESPN's Colin Kaepernick's documentary has triggered rampant speculation that the two are connected.

The multi-part documentary series would have given Kaepernick the chance to "tell his story from his perspective."

In 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the National Anthem before a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers in protest of racial injustice and police brutality. The response to this was his jersey becoming the top-selling among NFL players at the start of the