Literally steal? That is literally not theft.
If you think he is just doing this for himself then I don't think you understand the issue. You can disagree with him just as I do but I am under no illusion that he is doing this for fame or popularity.
No one had to make it a news issue that he kneeled during the national anthem. It got more attention because of people's outrage than because he made a political statement. The media didn't have to give him any coverage, yet they gave it to him freely.
Trump is free to comment away and Kaepernick is free to protest but if Kaepernick should just shut up and play football then Trump should shut up and do president stuff.
Yes. Stealing. He's not being paid to make political statements on air. The air time (which is very expensive) belongs to the NFL and their sponsors. They didn't choreograph the opening ceremonies to support a protest. The images, the time, the ceremony -- it's all at the expense of the people paying for it. The players are employees.
The NFL game is not a public service. Can I run onto the field waving a flag, protesting the protestors, or would I get arrested? If the NFL allows free coverage of a players' protest, why not mine?
How about someone other than a player who's on the staff, like the coaches? Can ANYONE do anything they want during the opening ceremony just to get it broadcast?
The NFL rules say they can't. They are supposed to stand and be respectful while facing the music. So, the players are disobeying their employers and stealing air time.
As for the reason -- a multimillionaire QB with a lackluster performance record was looking at his options if he got cut -- a very likely possibility. So, he wore socks depicting Cops as pigs (another NFL infraction), and he grabbed attention by kneeling. His original intent was to sue the league for racism or whatever else as a means of keeping his job. If they fired him, he could claim it was political and not about performance.
So, now he's without a team and suing the NFL for collusion, because no team wants a self-agrandizing drama queen.
Go figure.
And the Liberal media did have to give him all that attention -- because they are Trump-hating Liberals who saw a controversy they could politicize and capitalize on. Bunch of opportunistic ambulance chasers.
"Do President stuff?" Such a mature and objective characterization.

The president has always been the moral leader of the nation. He sets the tone for what we value --what's right and what's wrong.
He is free to voice an opinion on any current event, just as you are. Lord knows, Obama had no problem lecturing us all on "that's not who we are" every chance he got.