Is Colin Kaepernick Vegan? The NFL Star Just Dropped a Ben & Jerry’s Flavor

You haven’t truly made it until you get your own Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor — and preferably one with wordplay in the name. NFL player and racial justice activist Colin Kaepernick was recently bestowed with this delicious honor, leaving many fans wondering: Is Colin Kaepernick vegan?

Read on for all the details about Colin Kaepernick’s new Ben & Jerry’s flavor, his relationship with veganism, and more.

Colin Kaepernick is one of the U.S.’s most well-known football players — and yes, Colin Kaepernick is vegan. In August 2016, the 49ers player confirmed in a locker room chat with reporters that he had been vegan for about nine months, as per NBC Sports. That means that as of December 2020, the quarterback has presumably been vegan for about five years.

At the time, he also told the reporters that he decided to go vegan for two reasons: ethics and health, adding that he felt much healthier eating plant-based.

Kaepernick is relatively quiet about his vegan lifestyle, but in 2018, he shared a gym selfie on Twitter, captioning it #NotBadForAVegan. Kaepernick is living proof that humans can absolutely exhibit optimal health while eating a planet-friendly, plant-based diet.

On Dec. 10, 2020, Ben & Jerry’s announced Kaepernick’s ice cream flavor, “Change the Whirled,” which, of course, is vegan. The non-dairy confection is made with a caramel sunflower butter base, and features fudge chips, graham cracker swirls, and chocolate cookie swirls.

Not only will buying this delicious non-dairy ice cream flavor benefit your tastebuds, but it’s also a great choice for the planet, for animals, and for charity.

Instead of keeping his portion of the proceeds from the flavor, Kaepernick is donating them to the Oakland branch of the Know Your Rights Camp. The camp, which Kaepernick founded in 2016, works to foster the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities, while teaching these communities to know their rights.

“This flavor celebrates Kaepernick's courageous work to confront systemic oppression and to stop police violence against Black and Brown people,” Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement.

"I'm honored to partner with Ben & Jerry's on Change the Whirled," Kaepernick added. "Their commitment to challenging the anti-Black roots of policing in the United States demonstrates a material concern for the well-being of Black and Brown communities. My hope is that this partnership will amplify calls to defund and abolish the police and to invest in futures that can make us safer, healthier, and truly free."

Kaepernick has made a name for himself both on and off the football field. In 2016, he began the “taking a knee” movement in the NFL, in which he (and eventually many other players) would kneel during the national anthem to show their opposition to police brutality and racial inequality in the U.S.

Over the past year, Ben & Jerry’s has become outspoken about racial justice and police violence, as well as other key issues facing the nation, such as the climate crisis.