18 Funny Examples of the Colin Kaepernick Just Do It Meme

Move over, Shia LeBeouf. There's a new "Just Do It" meme in town.

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick was a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers who became a controversial figure in American politics when he kneeled for the national anthem instead of standing alongside his teammates. Kaepernick decided to take a knee as a protest to draw attention to racial injustice and police brutality in our country. Naturally, his actions were immediately politicized and fans were quick to take sides. Some people hailed him as a hero using his status as a public figure to raise awareness of an important cultural rift; others thought he was unpatriotic and should be fired for protesting while on the job.

The public backlash was swift and damaging to his career. His contract with the 49ers was not renewed, and Kaepernick vowed to pursue legal damages and never stop fighting for his First Amendment right to protest.

In 2018, free agent Kaepernick teamed up with Nike to push even more buttons in sports fans and non-sports fans alike. Nike released a print ad featuring a close up of Kaepernick's face along with the words, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

The ad was simply more than the internet could handle. It provided the meme-makers of the web with the perfect blank slate, and soon the "Just Do It" meme took over social media. Perhaps the best aspect of the "Just Do It" meme is the bipartisan nature of the humor; these memes are neither left nor right, they're all simply mocking an ad. And they're hilarious.

Take a look at some of the best examples of the new and improved "Just do it" meme.

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Here's the Original Nike Ad

"Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything," the ad read, followed by the brand's iconic Nike swoosh and slogan, "Just do it."

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Bark at Everything, Even if Something Isn't There

Just bark at it.

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Shoot at Something, Even if It Means Missing Everything

The Storm Troopers in the early Star Wars movies are notoriously bad shots with those ray guns.

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Eat Everything, Even if It Means Becoming Chonky

This cat is my spirit animal.

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Believe in Something, Even if Momma Says It's the Devil

Adam Sandler's "The Water Boy" is still one of the most beloved sports movies in history, even if Sandler hasn't made a decent movie in years.

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Does Anyone Here Speak Wookiie?

Chewbacca could be the greatest philosopher since Plato, but we'd never know it.

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Step One: Cut a Hole in a Box

Further proof that Justin Timberlake is NEVER going to live down that "D*ck In A Box" song he did for "Saturday Night Live."

Never.

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Taunt Something, Even if It Means Taunting It a Second Time

The jokes from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" are so timeless, they now live on in meme form.

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Stand for Something. Unless You Have Bone Spurs

Donald Trump critics love to point out that his student status and "bone spurs" enabled him to defer the U.S. Army draft four times.

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Lick Your Butt. Even if It Makes Everyone in the Room Uncomfortable.

And it does.... So uncomfortable.

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Why Waste Time Say Lot Word When Few Word Do the Trick?

Let's just say that Kevin from "The Office" is not known for his high intelligence and extensive vocabulary.

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It's Not a Lie if You Believe It

Easily one of the most perfect George Costanza quotes ever uttered by the "Seinfeld" character.

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Believe in Something. Even if It Means Sacrificing Half of Everything

Fans of "Avengers, Infinity War" are still not over what Thanos did to some of their favorite superheroes.

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Listen to Nickelback. Even if Everyone Thinks They Suck

The internet loves to hate on Nickelback, whether they deserve it or not. (But they do, though.)

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Waka Waka

"The Muppet Show"'s Fozzy Bear is no stranger to telling jokes to unappreciative audiences. Those old guys in the balcony are especially tough critics.

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Believe in Thomthin.

We wouldn't normally ever make fun of a speech impediment, but for Mike Tyson, we'll make an exception. There's just something about that face tattoo....

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Bork Bork Bork

Speaking of Muppets, who doesn't love a few words of wisdom from The Swedish Chef? Even if we have no idea what he's saying, we still love him.

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Just Throw Flags

Referees have a tough job, but there are definitely some games where it seems they just can't keep those penalty flags in their pockets. Guess they just want to keep jumping out to join the fun.

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Take a Knee. Literally.

Tonya Harding was the original professional athlete to "take a knee," just not in the same way.