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It was a protest that began with one player sitting for the national anthem. It wasnt until the third game of pre-season that Colin Kaepernick was spotted, and the news story turned into a contentious political chip in the race for presidential election. The 49ers quarterback has been made the week six starter for San Franciscos game against the Buffalo Bills, and is backing himself to impress after restructuring his contract to remove an injury guarantee. But the six-year veteran, who helped the 49ers to the 2012 Super Bowl, has been in the spotlight all season after refusing to stand for the Star Spangled Banner, which plays ahead of every game.Despite being the back up so far this season, Kaepernick jerseys are the highest selling on the NFLs online site, and players - both team-mates and opposition - are growing in their support for his cause, which he announced after the 49ers pre-season game against the Green Bay Packers. I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour, Kaepernick said.To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder. Kaepernick has been kneeling since the pre-season, and will continue to do so as he starts his first game of 2016 Kaepernick, born to a white mother and African-American father, and adopted as a baby by a white family in Wisconsin, has polarised opinion with his decision to kneel during the national anthem. The 49ers organisation, while not supporting their player, have stated that it is Kaepernicks right to protest, and have donated $1m to improve collaboration between law enforcement and the communities of the Bay Area. However, this is a larger issue than one city or state. Residents in North Carolina rioted after Keith Lamont Scott was shot by police on Tuesday, September 20. Speaking in the midst of the trouble, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said he was in a lose-lose situation when talking about social justice as people were too quick to comment.Im in a position now where its like, if I say something, its going to be critiqued, said Newton. And if I dont say something, oh, you fake. Im a firm believer of justice. Im a firm believer of doing the right thing. And I cant repeat it enough; of just holding people accountable.Im an African-American. I am not happy with how justice has kind of been dealt with over the years - the state of oppression in our community. Kubiak to miss week six Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak to miss game vs Chargers Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman also used his latest press conference to address the social issues surrounding Kaepernicks protest.The reason these guys are kneeling, the reason were locking arms is to bring people together to make people aware that this is not right. Its not right for people to get killed in the street.And so when a guy takes a knee, you can ignore it. You can say hes not being patriotic, hes not honouring the flag. Im doing none of those things. Im saying, straight up, this is wrong and we need to do something.Athletes making a statement is not something new, or limited to the NFL. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a black power salute, demonstrating against the treatment of black Americans. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a civil rights gesture at the 1968 Olympics In recent years, the St Louis Rams and LeBron James have actively protested social justice issues, but Kaepernicks continued stance has led players from all franchises supporting the quarterback.Greg Milam, US Correspondent for Sky News, believes that what started as one man making a stand for a cause has now become a vehicle for certainly raising, if not addressing the social issues in America today. There is no doubt that this is now a national talking point, especially since he took his protest into the first Monday Night Football game, he said. From a lone act in a pre-season game to now, the fact that other players have joined in, along with players in other sports, with audiences in the tens of millions, I think has taken this to another level.All of the increased attention, the debate and anger, also makes people wary - the issues around injustice faced by minority communities are extremely emotive and, as weve seen before, those tensions can boil over. The fact is that this is an uncomfortable issue for so many people, though, that is kind of the point Kaepernick is making. Basketball star LeBron James wore an I cant breathe t-shirt, displaying the last words of Eric Garner in 2014 Milam believes that a sporting protest was too big of a stage for American politics to ignore. With the country due to elect their new president in November, the issue has not escaped the politicians. President Barack Obama was quick to support Kaepernicks right to protest.In some ways, that has more to do with how American politics works today, jumping on a bandwagon, getting some airtime, but this years race has been divisive and there are a lot of angry people out there. An issue with sport, race, injustice and national pride is too big a target, said Milam.It also means that it is sometimes hard for the facts (that the players say they respect the military, for example) to be heard above the noise and outrage. The very fact that that the national anthem is played at regular sporting events in the US is evidence of just how seriously people take pride in America. Rams players Tavon Austin, Jared Cook and Chris Givens were criticised after they made this gesture in 2014 With Kaepernick starting his first game of 2016, the focus will be on the quarterback more than ever. The highly contentious nature of this debate will continue to divide fans, but it promises to keep the subject in the headlines, all the way until the presidential election on November 8. Also See: NFL week five highlights Neil Reynolds Pick Six WATCH: Sunday Blitz NFL week five round-up Fake Vans Free Shiping . Thornton emerged as one of the leagues best defensive ends against the run in 2013. The former undrafted free agent from Division II Southern Arkansas led Philadelphias linemen with 78 tackles and had one sack. Fake Vans Slip-on . Smiths former Atlanta teammates were glad to hang on for an ugly win. http://www.fakevans.com/.C. -- Cam Newton wasnt flawless on Sunday. Fake Vans Store . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. Fake Vans Old Skool . Left back Armero opened the scoring in the fifth minute when his deflected shot rolled past Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. Striker Teofilo Gutierrez poked in Colombias second goal from a deflected corner in the 58th and James Rodriguez capped it off with a low shot in stoppage time after a slick backheel flick from Juan Cuadrado.MIAMI - The last time Dwyane Wade played in an NBA Finals game, he needed fluid drained from his left knee and eight hours of intense game-day therapy just to get into uniform. The Miami Heat guard later described it in a single word. "Hell," Wade said. It was also worth it, after he scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and hoisted his third Larry OBrien Trophy. Now, unlike last year, Wade is not dealing with any injuries heading into the Miamis finals rematch against the San Antonio Spurs. At 32 years old and with 866 NBA games already on his playing odometer, Wade still deals with plenty of aches and pains, good days and bad days, and basically has a standing appointment in the Heat training room. But compared to last seasons NBA Finals, his knees are good as new. "Hes a big-time, huge piece to our puzzle," four-time NBA MVP and Heat star LeBron James said. "To have him out there in the groove that hes in right now, its going to help us." The Heat are looking to win their third straight title and Wade is on the cusp of joining a list of all-time NBA greats. There are just seven players with four championships and at least one NBA Finals MVP award on their resumes: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek, Magic Johnson, Shaquille ONeal, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and the Spurs Tim Duncan. Wade could be the eighth person in that club. "We just want to continue to add to what were accomplishing," Wade said. Almost forgotten amid all the memories of Wade limping about during last years playoffs — he whacked what was his "good" knee at this time last year, the surgically repaired left one, in a collision with the Spurs Manu Ginobili during Game 6 of the finals — is he had big games when Miami needed him. Through his first 14 games of the 2013 playoffs, Wade was averaging 13.6 points. In the final eight games of that post-season run, starting with Game 7 against Indiana, he averaged 19.8 points. And in the last four games of the finals, he averaged 23.5 points against the Spurs to close the series. As his knees got worse, Wade seemed to gget better.dddddddddddd "He still found a way last year," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He really did. He had some of his biggest games not only in the finals, but Game 7, we didnt think necessarily he was going to even play that game in the Eastern Conference finals." This year, the Heat tried to leave nothing to chance with Wades health. The so-called maintenance plan for Wade — limiting his minutes to save his knees — kicked in on the second night of the regular season. He wound up missing 28 games in all, mostly because of that rest-and-rehab scheme, to ensure that he would be good to go in the playoffs. The results cant be argued. Wade is averaging 18.7 points on 52 per cent shooting, Miami is 12-3 in the playoffs and when getting more than three days rest — like the Heat will have before Game 1 in San Antonio on Thursday night — the perennial All-Star has had games of 23, 14, 27 and 23 points on a combined 60 per cent shooting. "Dwyane is playing great," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Tuesday. "He looks a lot more spry and ready to go then he did last year in the finals." Maybe the biggest payoff of the regular-season maintenance plan has been how Wade has closed games in this post-season. Wade is shooting 56 per cent in fourth quarters during the playoffs, the best clip of his career and the best percentage of any guard with more than 30 shots in the final period of post-season games this season. San Antonios Danny Green is second on that list, shooting just under 49 per cent. Wade doesnt like talking about his place in history. But he knows what rarefied air he would be entering with a fourth title run. "I think weve all put ourselves in great situations, and were just going to continue to try to enjoy this moment that were in because its an amazing moment," Wade said. "Its something that, for a lifetime, is going to fulfil us as athletes. Even when we cant play this game, were going to always be able to talk about this." And now, when talking about his health, Wade has another one-word answer: "Better." ' ' '