SAN FRANCISCO -- Well,Anime Archives this would certainly turn up the heat.

The guy whose silent national anthem protests sparked a movement and ignited backlash? It's one thing when he's a reserve who fades into the background after the song's final note.

It's quite another when he's the starting quarterback for one of the most iconic franchises in professional football. Colin Kaepernick isn't there yet, but the scenario is becoming more and more plausible as his San Francisco 49ers struggle to find any sort of offensive momentum.

A growing chorus is wondering whether it's time for the five-time Super Bowl champions to bench current starter Blaine Gabbert and put Kaepernick under center in his stead. Such a move would turn this controversy up to 11, give Kaepernick a shot at revitalizing his once-promising career and give his protests an even bigger platform.

By now the details don't necessitate repeating, but the broad strokes still paint a striking picture. Kaepernick began protesting the mistreatment of racial minorities in America during the NFL preseason, first by sitting during the national anthem, then by taking a knee when "The Star Spangled Banner" is played. He sparked a movement, and everyone from Oakland teenagers to U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe have followed with similar protests.

But many others have ripped Kaepernick for his silent, peaceful protests. He's even received death threats, and said if someone did in fact kill him, then that would only prove his point.

On the field, meanwhile, the 49ers have been a mess. Starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert has been particularly bad, and was especially so this past Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. He completed 14 passes in 25 attempts for just 119 yards, with one interception and zero touchdowns. The 49ers lost in a game that wasn't even as close as its 37-18 final score would indicate.

After the game, Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett said what many 49ers fans are thinking. Bennett said playing against Gabbert is "no challenge" and that "Kaepernick gives the team a better chance of winning, but that’s just my opinion."

Writers, analysts and fans alike have also wondered: How long can the 49ers really stick with Gabbert?

Kaepernick's rise and fall

What many Americans don't realize -- folks who have only become aware of Kaepernick since his protests became a hot-button mainstream issue -- is that the guy who's now a lightning rod was once among the hottest players in the NFL.

As Kaepernick himself pointed out recently, the last time he began an NFL season as a backup, he ended up starting in the Super Bowl.

After then-49ers starter Alex Smith went down with injury during the 2012 season, Kaepernick took over the role and never looked back under then-49ers coach Jim Harbaugh. Against the Packers in the playoffs, he ran for 181 yards -- more than any quarterback has ever run during the postseason.

The 49ers came within one completion of winning the Super Bowl, and Kaepernick was hailed as representing the future of the NFL. The 49ers even traded Smith in favor of their rising star.

What a difference a few years makes. To hit the fast-forward button real quick, Kaepernick never quite made good on that hype and Harbaugh, his biggest advocate, was run out of San Francisco in 2014. Now here we are with Kaepernick back on the bench and stigmatized as the league's most-divisive player.

Could he be great again? More to the point, will he get a chance to be great again?

A 'traitor' who is ready to 'step on that field'

Gabbert is doing his part to give Kaepernick that chance. In three games as a starter, he's completed just 55 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and three interceptions. The San Francisco offense can gain no traction against decent opponents.

It would be difficult for Kaepernick to put up worse passing numbers than Gabbert has so far, and his fleet feet would give the 49ers offense another threat it lacks with Gabbert under center. Still, head coach Chip Kelly declined to give Kaepernick a shot Sunday against the Seahawks, despite Kaepernick saying he was healthy to play.

Kelly has been publicly supportive of Kaepernick's social stand -- calling the current situation in the U.S. "heinous" -- but kneeling during the anthem has rubbed many in the NFL the wrong way.

"He’s a traitor," an anonymous NFL team exec told Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman in August. Another exec told Freeman that Kaepernick is the most hated player in NFL front offices since Rae Carruth, who plotted to kill his unborn child and that child's mother in 1999.

That, apparently, is the level to which Kaepernick's silent, peaceful protests have ostracized him in some NFL circles. So it's fair to wonder about the role politics at a level above Kelly's control might play into a decision about when and whether to put Kaepernick back in the starting lineup.

But this much is certain: The longer Gabbert struggles, the more the tension will increase. And the longer the 1-2 49ers flounder as a team, the likelier it becomes that the man who -- by taking a knee during the national anthem -- changed the tenor of this entire pro football season becomes an NFL starter once again.

Kaepernick, for his part, says he's just waiting for his moment.

"I’m always ready to step on that field," he told the San Francisco Chronicleon Sunday. "And looking forward to that opportunity."