The birth mother of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has slammed him on Twitter for refusing to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner" at an exhibition game last week.
She also posted a tweet linking to a column by retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West:
Russo, who now lives in Colorado, is the co-founder of Linked Thru Love, an advocacy group "for changing stigmas and stereotypes for birthmothers and adoption."
She was 19 years old, single and destitute in Milwaukee when she gave birth to Kaepernick in 1987. She gave him up for adoption.
His birth father is African American and left Russo — who is white — before their son was born.
She gave him up for adoption — and he was taken in by a white couple, Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, who had two children.
He was raised in Wisconsin and attended grade school in California.
Russo herself was ripped for giving up her son and for her attacks on the NFL star, to which she responded:
The relationship between Kaepernick and his birth mother remains unclear, the New York Post reports.
In 2013, ESPN detailed Russo's search for a reunion with her birth son.
Kaepernick told the network that he was not interested in meeting his birth parents.
"It's not really a respect thing," he told ESPN, according to the post. "It's just — [my adopted family is] my family. That's it."
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