Colin Kaepernick compared the NFL's draft process to a slave auction in his new Netflix special

• Colin Kaepernick compared the NFL's draft process to a slave auction in his new Netflix special.
• A scene from the show depicts Black actors playing athletes as slaves being bid on by white owners.

Colin Kaepernick compared the NFL's draft process to a slave auction in his new Netflix special, with one scene showing Black athletes in shackles being whipped by white owners.

"Colin in Black & White" explores Kaepernick's life, from his childhood through to the events that led him to become an advocate for social justice.

The former San Francisco 49ers star became a controversial figure in the NFL in 2016 when he started kneeling during the United States national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice.

After leaving the 49ers, he was not signed by any other team, leading him to file a grievance against the NFL, accusing league owners of ostracizing him because of his on field political statements. He later withdrew the claim.

A scene from the special has Kaepernick as a narrator as a group of Black actors playing athletes who want to be in the NFL stand in the background.

"What they don't want you to understand is what's being established is a power dynamic," he says.

"Before they put you on the field, teams poke, prod, and examine you searching for any defect that might affect your performance. No boundary respect. No dignity left intact."

The line of NFL prospects then walk by Kaepernick before morphing into slaves for sale at an auction with shackles on while white slave owners place bids on them.

"Look at this here! Come on! Who wants this?" the auctioneer shouts.

As the white owners later start lashing at the Black players with whips, Kaepernick then draws a comparison between the abuse suffered by slaves to the NFL Scouting Combine - a week-long showcase that determines which prospects are drafted into the league.

According to Over The Cap, the median salary of NFL players is around $900,000 a year, while 34 players in the league are currently paid more than $20 million annually.

A number of critics have hit out at Kaepernick's slavery comparison on social media.

"How dare [Colin Kaepernick] compare the evil endured by so many of our ancestors to a bunch of millionaires who CHOSE to play game," wrote the former NFL player Burgess Owens, now a Republican member of the House of Representatives, on Twitter.