TL;DR: The one you actually want, Colin in Black & White, is a Netflix original and streams only there. Kaepernick & America is a rent-or-buy title on Prime Video and Apple TV, and the long-rumored Spike Lee documentary is still not something you can watch anywhere.
Now the long version, because every time Kaepernick's name bubbles back up (this week it's Brian Urlacher on the Craig Carton Show saying the protests "wouldn't have flown" in his locker room) I get the same text from three different people: wait, wasn't there a show about him? There was. There are actually a few things, and they are scattered across services in a way that makes zero sense unless you know the backstory of each one.
The main event: Colin in Black & White (Netflix)
This is the six-episode limited series Kaepernick made with Ava DuVernay in 2021. It is not a sports doc in the usual sense. It's a scripted coming-of-age story about his high school years in Turlock, California, with Jaden Michael playing teenage Colin, and the real Kaepernick stepping in as a narrator who breaks the fourth wall to talk about race, adoption, hair, and the draft-combine-as-auction sequence that people either loved or hated.
I'll be honest: the narrated segments are uneven. Some of them land like a sharp lecture, some feel like a TED talk that wandered onto a TV set. But the scripted parts are genuinely good, and Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker as his adoptive parents do quiet, unshowy work that I did not expect from a series this pointed.
Where to watch: Netflix, and nowhere else. It's an original, so it will not show up on Hulu, Peacock, or as a rental. Netflix's cheapest tier is the ad-supported plan, currently around $7.99 a month in the US, with the ad-free Standard plan near $18 and Premium near $25. The ad plan is fine for this. It's six episodes, you'll be done in an evening or two, and Netflix lets you cancel from the account page with no phone call required. Prices drift, so check Netflix's plan page before you commit.
Kaepernick & America (rent or buy)
If Colin in Black & White is the memoir, Kaepernick & America is the news documentary. It premiered at Tribeca in 2022, directed by Tommy Walker and Ross Hockrow, and it's the more conventional talking-heads account: the 2016 anthem protest, the media pile-on, the collusion grievance, and the way the whole thing got swallowed by a presidential election cycle. It runs about 85 minutes and it's the film I'd hand to someone who wants the timeline without the artistic framing.
Where to watch: this one went the indie route, which means digital rental and purchase rather than a big-name subscription. In the US it's on Prime Video and Apple TV as a rental (typically in the $3 to $5 range) or purchase (usually $10 to $15). I've seen smaller indie docs like this drift on and off ad-supported services like Tubi or Plex over time, so it's worth a search there first if you'd rather not pay, but as of this writing I would not count on it. Check the official listings on Prime or Apple if you want the current price.
Killing County (Hulu), the one people forget
Kaepernick's production company has a producer credit on Killing County, a three-part 2023 docuseries about police violence in Bakersfield, California. He's not on camera, so if you are looking for him this isn't it. But if the reason you're here is the politics rather than the football, it's the most direct extension of what he's been doing since he left the league.
Where to watch: Hulu, ad-supported plan from around $9.99 a month, or bundled into the Disney+ and Hulu package. It has stayed on Hulu since release, but it's not a flagship title, so I'd confirm it's still there before subscribing just for it.
The football itself
Here is where I have to be careful, because the NFL's archive situation is a moving target.
The game most people want is Super Bowl XLVII, the February 2013 loss to the Ravens, the blackout game, the one where Kaepernick nearly ran the 49ers back from 22 points down. The NFL periodically posts full classic games and condensed versions on its official YouTube channel for free, and Super Bowls tend to be the ones they surface, especially in the weeks before the next Super Bowl. That's the first place I'd look.
Beyond that, NFL+ ($6.99 a month for the base plan, $14.99 for Premium at last check) is built around live local games and current-season replays. Whether a specific 2012 or 2013 playoff game is in there at any given moment is not something I'd promise. Check the NFL+ library before paying, because the marketing copy about "archives" is vaguer than it sounds.
And for the culture-war side of this: the 2018 Nike "Dream Crazy" spot, the one with "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything," is on YouTube, free, and still two of the most effective minutes of advertising I've ever seen regardless of what you think of the man.
What's NOT available, and what changes this week
This is the time-sensitive part, so take it with the date in mind.
The Spike Lee documentary. ESPN announced a multi-part Kaepernick docuseries directed by Spike Lee back in 2022. It has been reported as stalled over creative differences, and as of this writing it has not aired on ESPN, ESPN+, Hulu, or anywhere else. If it ever lands, ESPN's own streaming app is the obvious home. Until then, any listing you see claiming to stream it is either a mistake or a scam. I'll update this section if that changes.
The Urlacher comments. If you want the segment that kicked off this week's news cycle, the Craig Carton Show airs weekday mornings on FS1. You can get FS1 through Fox One (Fox's standalone streaming app, about $19.99 a month), or through any of the live TV bundles: Sling Blue (around $45), YouTube TV (around $83), Hulu + Live TV (around $83), or Fubo. The clip itself will be on Fox Sports' YouTube and social accounts within hours, though, so I would not sign up for anything to see it.
A suggested order, if you're doing all of it
- Kaepernick & America first. It gives you the facts in order and takes one evening.
- Colin in Black & White second, once you know the timeline. The stylized stuff plays better when you can tell what's real and what's dramatized.
- Super Bowl XLVII on the NFL's YouTube channel, ideally with a friend who remembers watching it live and wants to argue about the fourth-quarter holding no-call.
- Killing County only if you want to follow where his attention went after football.
FAQ
Is Colin in Black & White on Hulu or Prime? No. It's a Netflix original and stays there.
Is there a documentary where Kaepernick sits for a long interview? Not really. He narrates Colin in Black & White and gives a few short interviews in Kaepernick & America, but there is no full sit-down documentary yet. That's part of why the Spike Lee project got so much attention.
Can I watch any of this free? The Nike ad and whatever NFL classic games happen to be on YouTube, yes. Netflix and Hulu don't offer free trials anymore. Amazon and Apple rentals are cheap, but not free.
Will these move to another service? The Netflix and Hulu titles are locked in. Kaepernick & America is the one to keep an eye on; indie docs like it often land on a subscription service a couple of years after release.
That's the whole map. It's a shorter list than the amount of noise around the guy would suggest, which honestly says something on its own. Enjoy the Netflix series, skip the Twitter fights about it, and I'll see you in the next round of wait, where is that streaming again.
— Priya
— Priya Raman