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None other than Beyoncé showed up Tuesday night to present Colin Kaepernick with a special honor at Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year Awards.

The former 49ers quarterback was the recipient of the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, which is reserved for recognition of athletes who utilize their platform to promote positive change.

Kaepernick drew attention last year when he refused to stand for the national anthem before NFL games. He has since donated around $1 million to social justice causes and began working to improve racial equality, with a number of other athletes and public figures following his lead.

As we previously mentioned, Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z has also shown support for Kaepernick, especially in the weeks since Donald Trump has deliberately tried to exploit the national anthem protests in an effort to further divide America for his own personal gain.

"I accept this award not for myself, but on behalf of the people," Kaepernick said as he accepted the award tonight. "Because if it were not for my love of the people, I would not have protested. And if it was not for the support from the people, I would not be on this stage today."

He concluded: "With our without the NFL's platform, I will continue to work for the people because my platform is the people."

(Updated video)

Queen B x Kaep!!!! pic.twitter.com/FiP9BmD8Ht

— Ala'a Eewshah (@AlEewshah) December 6, 2017

Beyonce makes a surprise appearance to present Colin Kaepernick with the Muhammed Ali Legacy Award pic.twitter.com/oQzPXFJ0cg

— Luke Kerr-Dineen (@LukeKerrDineen) December 6, 2017