MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the target of boos Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, where the 49ers played a game against the Miami Dolphins.
Fans said the reaction came because Kaepernick wore a shirt with Fidel Castro's image on it during a postgame interview earlier this season.
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The shirt, which was worn in August, showed several images of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X, along with the communist Cuban dictator, who died Friday at age 90.
During the third quarter of the game, Kaepernick was picked off by Kiko Alonso, a linebacker who happens to be a Cuban-American.
After the game, Kaepernick, who has been outspoken on social issues this season, defended the shirt and, to some extent, Castro's legacy.
He wore a shirt the an image of Malcolm X as he addressed the media.
"What I said was I agree with the investment in education. I also agree with the investment of free universal health care, as well as the involvement in him pushing to end apartheid in South Africa. I would hope that everybody agrees those things are good things," Kaepernick said. "And trying to push the false narrative that I was a supporter of the oppressive things that he did is not true."
The Castro shirt rubbed many the wrong way, especially Cubans in South Florida.
"It's wrong doing something like that. It's not good for society. It's disrespect to me. I don't like the way he does it," Dolphins fan Ricky Lopez said. "He's doing it just because to get his fame, to get his show, to get attention, and I don't respect that."
Fans of the 49ers were also critical of Kaepernick.
"He doesn't have any knowledge about the true Castro," Gisele Rantalainen said. "He doesn't understand. He needs to read up."
Kaepernick said he understands the concern of people in South Florida.
"What I said was that was a historic moment for Malcolm X," he said.
He went on to call Castro dying before the 49ers came to play in Miami a "very unique circumstance."