When Tim Tebow knelt on the sidelines of a football game in a defiant and public act of faith during his years as an N.F.L. quarterback, he was adored as a darling of the American church. When Colin Kaepernick knelt before games in protest of police brutality, he received death threats, was called a “traitor” and eventually, left unsigned by the NFL.br br Kaepernick is a devout Christian whose faith has turned him into an activist. Eric Reid, Kaepernick’s former teammate on the San Francisco 49ers, recently wrote an op-ed in The New York Times describing the moment that he decided to join Kaepernick’s protest last year. Reid claims it was his Christianity that moved him to take the knee.br br He quotes a passage in the Bible which states that faith without action is dead. For Reid, kneeling for the anthem to bring attention to police killings of unarmed black people was an act of faith.br br It was just as much an act of faith as Tebow’s choice to kneel down and pray to celebrate a touchdown.