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Colin Rand Kaepernick (born November 3, 1987) is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He was drafted in the 2nd round, 36th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Nevada.

Personal[link]

Kaepernick was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An adopted child of Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, Kaepernick is of mixed European and African descent and the youngest of their three children.^[1][2] He lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin until age four and attended grade school in Turlock, California.

Kaepernick graduated from the University of Nevada Reno in December 2010 with a bachelors degree in business management and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He is known to have high character and a relatively unassuming personality off the field, as evidenced by an incident that took place during the summer of 2010 interning at a University of Nevada-themed sports apparel shop in Reno. One woman came in and, completely unaware she was speaking to Kaepernick, asked him to find his jersey. A manager at the store would later recall, "Colin said, ‘I’m pretty sure it’s No. 10, and it’s right over here.’ He rang up her purchase and everything."^[1]

Childhood[link]

The young Kaepernick adjusted easily as a dark-skinned member in a white family, using different colors of crayons for himself and the rest of his family on drawing family portraits, and laughing off some classmates who did not believe that he had white parents.^[1] He started youth football at the age of eight years old in Turlock, and played sparingly as a defensive end and punter. He then became his youth team's starting quarterback at age nine. He completed his first competitive pass for a long touchdown. He went on to win several punt, pass, and kick competitions mainly on his passing ability, and he often threw passes over the heads of contest officials. It was then his passion for football began.^[1]

High school[link]

A three-sport star at Pitman High School in Turlock, California, Kaepernick passed up a promising baseball career as a pitcher in order to play football. Kaepernick was nominated for all state in football, basketball, and baseball his senior year. He was the MVP of the Central California Conference in football leading his school to its first ever playoff victory. In basketball he was a first team all CCC selection at forward and led his 16th ranked team to a near upset of the number 1 ranked Oak Ridge Trojans in the opening round of playoffs. In that game Colin would score 34 points but it wouldn't be enough as Ryan Anderson would score 50 to best the Pride.^{[citation needed]}

Although Kaepernick achieved most of his accolades in high school as a baseball pitcher and received several scholarship offers in that sport,^[1] he desperately wanted to play football in college. Although he was almost 6'5" as a senior, he only weighed 170 pounds (77 kg); his coaches generally kept him from running the ball to limit his risk of injury.^[2] Also, despite his strong arm, he had poor throwing mechanics.^[1] During his junior year, Pitman's head coach at the time, Larry Nigro, made a highlight tape which Colin's brother Kyle copied to DVD and then sent to about 100 Division I-A (now FBS) programs, receiving some interest but no offers for scholarship.^[1] Even as a senior, he received little attention from FBS schools. Although the Wolf Pack coaching staff frequently watched video of his high school team, no one from Nevada's staff came to Turlock to see him play during his senior football season.^[2] Wolf Pack head coach Chris Ault decided to offer him a scholarship after one of his assistants, Barry Sacks, saw Kaepernick dominate a high school basketball game on an evening he was suffering from a fever of 102 °F (39 °C). Nevada was the only school that offered him a football scholarship, but was still concerned that he would opt for baseball until he signed in February 2006.^[2]

He was a two time all state baseball player in California and was listed as a draftable prospect on Major League Baseball's website in the class of 2006. He earned Northern California athlete of the week honors as a pitcher. He was reported to throw a 92 MPH fastball as a senior in HS as reported on Kaepernick's first college start in 2007 against Boise State^[3] He was also a member of the Brewers Grey squad in the 2005 Area Code games. During his senior year, Kaepernick pitched two no-hitters in high school play. He also turned down numerous scholarship offers to play baseball at many notable NCAA programs instead taking his lone scholarship offer to play quarterback at Nevada.^{[citation needed]}. In his senior high school year, Kaepernick had an ERA of 1.53 from 10 starts and 7 complete starts. He finished the year with a record of 6-4 with 82 strikeouts and 28 walks.^[3] .

College[link]

Recruitment[link]

Though heavily recruited by major NCAA baseball programs, Kaepernick received his lone football scholarship offer from the University of Nevada Wolf Pack.

2006 season[link]

Kaepernick joined the Nevada Wolf Pack as a redshirt.

2007 season[link]

As a redshirt freshman, Colin saw little action through Nevada's first four games. It was during the fifth game of the season against the 2007 Fresno State Bulldogs football team that Colin got his first extended playing time. After starting quarterback Nick Graziano went down with a season ending foot injury, Colin entered the game with 8:23 remaining in the second quarter. He would go on to amass 384 yards passing, 4 TD's and 60 yards rushing. It would prove to not be enough though as Fresno would win the game 49–41

It would be in Colin's first start on Sunday October 14, 2007 that he would have his most popular game to date. Entering as 26 point underdogs to the Boise State Broncos, a team that had never lost on its home field to a WAC opponent, Colin would help guide the Wolf Pack to a near upset of the Broncos in what would eventually become one of the highest scoring game in NCAA history (69-67 in 4 overtimes). The game was nationally televised on ESPN and would be deemed an Instant Classic to be re-aired on the networks ESPN Classic station in the following days. Compiling 243 yards passing with 3 TD's and rushing for another 177 yards and 2 scores, Kaepernick would lead the Wolf Pack into a fourth overtime period before a failed two point conversion attempt would ultimately prevent the game from entering a fifth overtime. During the game Kaepernick earned high praise from ESPN's Bill Curry (the former Georgia Tech and Green Bay Packer center and University of Kentucky head football coach) as having perhaps the best game he had ever witnessed any redshirt freshman quarterback playing in.

He would then go on to lead the Wolf Pack to three straight victories over Utah State, Idaho, and New Mexico State (a game in which he threw the go ahead score with a minute remaining) and earn WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts in the latter. Against undefeated and nationally ranked Hawaii his team would fall 2 points short after giving up a late field goal with 15 seconds remaining. A loss to San Jose St. followed.

In the final game of the regular season vs. the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Kaepernick would throw for a gaudy 404 yards and 3 scores with no turnovers to help lead the Pack their third consecutive bowl appearance, a first in school history.

Kaepernick earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors for his efforts during the regular season. At 161.06 he finished as the 5th ranked quarterback in NCAA football based on pass efficiency behind Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Tim Tebow (Florida), Colt Brennan (Hawaii), and Dennis Dixon (Oregon) and 3rd in the nation in yards per attempt at 9.4 behind Tebow and Paul Smith (Tulsa)

With bowl games completed, Kaepernick's stats dropped slightly. He would finish the season ranked in the top ten in NCAA in various categories including: 2nd lowest Interception Percent to Florida State's Drew Weatherford, 5th in Yards Per Passing Attempt, 7th in Touchdowns Passing Percent, and 10th in Passer Rating. Amongst quarterbacks he was 6th in Yards Per Carry when running the ball.

2008 season[link]

As a sophomore Kaepernick became just the fifth player in NCAA history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 or more yards in a single season. Some of his notable statistical achievements were:

Only NCAA QB in 2008 to pass for 2,500 or more yards and rush for 1,000 or more yards. Ranked 2nd amongst all NCAA QB's in rushing yardage with 1,130. Ranked 7th amongst all NCAA players with 7.02 yards per carry. Was tied 9th amongst all NCAA players with 17 rushing TD's.

Kaepernick, with 1,130 rushing yards, and running back Vai Taua, with 1,521 rushing yards, made 2008 the first year in school history that Nevada had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season.^[4]

Despite playing the entire second half with an ankle injury, he set a new Humanitarian Bowl record with 370 yards passing and was awarded the MVP in a losing effort.

He was also named the WAC Offensive Player of the Year at the end of the season. He was the first sophomore to win this award since Marshall Faulk of San Diego State did in 1992. He was also named first team All WAC QB. He was the first sophomore to win this award since Trent Dilfer of Fresno State which was also in 1992.

2009 season[link]

Kaepernick was named the pre-season WAC Offensive Player of the Year at the WAC Media's event in July. On August 3 it was announced he was named to the Davey O'Brien Award pre-season watch list. On August 14 it was announced that he was named to the pre-season Maxwell Award watch list and on August 17 to the Manning Award watch list.

Kaepernick led the Wolf Pack to an 8–5 record and a second place finish in the WAC behind undefeated Boise State. He was named 2nd team All WAC QB. He is the first player in Nevada history to earn the teams MVP award twice, doing so in 2008 as well.

Colin finished the 2009 season with 2,052 passing yards and 1,183 rushing yards. He became the first player in NCAA history to record back-to-back 2,000/1,000 yard seasons. His 1,183 rush yards along with Luke Lippincott's 1,034 and Vai Taua's 1,345 makes him a part of the first trio of teammates in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards each in the same season on the same team.

2010 season[link]

Entering the 2010 NCAA season, Kaepernick ranked first among active college football players in rushing touchdowns. He was second in Yards Per Carry (behind Wolf Pack teammate Vai Taua), Total Offense per Game, and Touchdowns Scored. He ranked third in Yards per Play and fourth in pass touchdowns and Total Number of Offensive Plays.

Kaepernick was a counselor at the prestigious MPA event in Thibodaux, Louisiana, during the 2010 camp. He had an impressive showing, drawing praise from various NFL and ESPN personnel including former New York Giants QB Jesse Palmer who said of Kaepernick, "by far, the strongest arm in the camp".^[5]

It was also announced that Kaepernick, along with teammates Taua and Lippincott will have a display in the College Football Hall of Fame commemorating their being the first players in NCAA history to each break 1,000 yards rushing on the same team during the same season.^[6] Kaepernick was named to the watch list for six major college football awards: the Manning Award, the O'Brien Award, the Paul Hornung Award, the Maxwell Award, the Unitas Award, and the Walter Camp Award.

On November 26, Kaepernick led his team to a 34–31 overtime victory against the previously undefeated Boise State Broncos, snapping a 24 game win streak that had dated back to the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl. This game was played on Nevada's senior night, the final home game for Kaepernick and fellow notable senior running back Vai Taua. Nevada Head Coach Chris Ault would later call this game the "most important win in program history." During this game, Kaepernick surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for this season, becoming the first player in NCAA history to have over 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing for 3 consecutive seasons. Along with Taua's 131 yards rushing in the game, the duo became the NCAA's all time leaders in rushing yards by teammates (8,285) passing the legendary SMU "Pony Express" duo of Eric Dickerson and Craig James (8,193).^[7]

On December 4 against Louisiana Tech University, Kaepernick joined Florida's Tim Tebow as the second quarterback in FBS history to throw for 20 touchdowns and run for 20 in the same season. Later that same evening, Auburn's Cam Newton joined Tebow and Kaepernick as the third. Kaepernick's three rushing touchdowns in that game also placed in him in a tie with former Nebraska QB and Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch for most rushing TD's in NCAA history by a quarterback with 59 in his career. Nevada claimed a share of the WAC title after defeating Louisiana Tech.

Kaepernick is the only quarterback in the history of Division I FBS college football to have passed for over 10,000 yards and rushed for over 4,000 yards in a collegiate career. Kaepernick is also the only Division 1 FBS QB to have passed for over 2,000 yards and rushed for over 1,000 yards in a single season three times in a career (consecutively).

College stats[link]

Professional[link]

Upon graduation, Kaepernick signed with XAM Sports and Entertainment. He spent time in Atlanta, Georgia training for the NFL Combine at Competitive Edge Sports with trainer Chip Smith and quarterbacks coach Roger Theder.

2011 NFL Draft[link]

On April 29, 2011, The San Francisco 49ers traded up with the Denver Broncos from the thirteen pick in the second round (#45 overall) to select Colin Kaepernick as the fourth pick in the second round (#36 overall) at the 2011 NFL Draft. The Denver Broncos received picks 45, 108 and 141 overall in exchange for the 36th overall pick. He is currently the second-string quarterback.

See also[link]

• List of Division I FBS passing yardage leaders
• List of Division I FBS passing touchdown leaders
• List of Division I FBS rushing touchdown leaders

References[link]

External links[link]

• Colin Kaepernick on Twitter
• San Francisco 49ers bio
• Nevada Wolf Pack bio
• College Statistics @ totalfootballstats.com
• ESPN.com Profile