San Francisco 49ers team up with first responders for youth football fun

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- It was a dream come true for some kids in Santa Clara Tuesday. The young football players from the Santa Clara Police Activities League had the chance to practice skills and drills with the San Francisco 49ers.

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About 8 players, including Garrett Celek and Pierre Garcon, took to the field and helped the kids with sprints, tackling, passing and catching.

Also on the field, law enforcement officers, and firefighters.

The players said it was a lot of fun working with the kids and helping them with their game.

The first responders said the same... and one firefighter added, as a 49ers fan, it was exciting for him to meet the players.

It was just last season 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started sitting during the national anthem to protest what he called police brutality and racial profiling of people of color. At one point he compared police to slave patrols.

A Santa Clara Police Department spokesperson said on Tuesday that the youth football practice was a great event put on by the 49ers, an event that benefits the community as a whole.

He added, Kaepernick is entitled to do what he wants and his protest never did and never would affect how officers do their jobs.

The players we talked with said they enjoyed working alongside law enforcement with the kids.

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