Colin Kaepernick is a professional American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Nevada, and was drafted by the 49ers in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. At Nevada, he twice was named the Western Athletic Offensive Player of the Year, and he was the Most Valuable Player of the 2008 Humanitarian Bowl.
Discover interesting facts about him, here!
1. Colin Rand Kaepernick was born November 3, 1987 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
2. His mother, Heidi (Zabransky) Russo, was at the time a 19-year-old white woman who was single and destitute.
3. His birth father, an African American, left the family before he was born.
4. Russo placed her son for adoption with Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, a white couple who had two children, son Kyle and daughter Devon, and were looking for a boy after having lost two other sons to heart defects.
5. Kaepernick became the youngest of their three children.
6. He lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, until age four, and attended grade school in Turlock, California.
7. Kaepernick began playing youth football at 8 years old as a defensive end and punter.
8. He then became his youth team’s starting quarterback at age nine, and he completed his first competitive pass for a long touchdown.
9. A 4.0 GPA student at John H. Pitman High School in Turlock, California, Kaepernick played football, basketball and baseball and was nominated for All-State selection in all three sports his senior year.
10. 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.
11. In that game, Kaepernick scored 34 points but Ryan Anderson scored 50 to beat the Pitman Pride.
12. Beginning his professional career as a backup to Alex Smith, Kaepernick became the 49ers’ starter in the middle of the 2012 season when Smith suffered a concussion.
13. He remained the team’s starting quarterback for the rest of the season and went on to lead the 49ers to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1994 where the team was defeated by the Baltimore Ravens.
14. During the 2016 NFL preseason, Kaepernick began to protest the United States national anthem by not standing, as is tradition, while the anthem was being performed as a response to a series of incidents, especially those of police brutality against African Americans, that led to the Black Lives Matter movement. This garnered widespread attention across the U.S. and became a subject of conversation for several weeks following.
15. Kaepernick was baptized Methodist, confirmed Lutheran, and attended a Baptist church during his college years.
16. He spoke about his faith saying, “My faith is the basis from where my game comes from. I’ve been very blessed to have the talent to play the game that I do and be successful at it. I think God guides me through every day and helps me take the right steps and has helped me to get to where I’m at. When I step on the field, I always say a prayer, say I am thankful to be able to wake up that morning and go out there and try to glorify the Lord with what I do on the field. I think if you go out and try to do that, no matter what you do on the field, you can be happy about what you did.”
17. Kaepernick has multiple tattoos.
18. His right arm features a scroll with the Bible verse Psalm 18:39 written on it. Tattooed under the scroll are praying hands with the phrase “To God The Glory” written on them. To the left of both the scroll and praying hands is the word “Faith” written vertically.
19. His left arm features a Christian cross with the words “Heaven Sent” on it referring to Jesus. Written above and below the cross is the phrase “God Will Guide Me”.
20. Written to the left and right of the cross is the Bible verse Psalm 27:3. His chest features the phrase “Against All Odds” and artwork around it that represents “inner strength, spiritual growth, and humility”. His back features a mural of angels against demons.
21. When he was 10 years old, Kaepernick acquired a pet tortoise named Sammy.
The tortoise since has grown to weigh 115 pounds.
22. When he was in 4th grade, Kaepernick wrote himself a letter, predicting that he would be 6 feet 4 inches, 190 pounds, and would “then go to the pros and play on the Niners or Packers even if they aren’t good in seven years”, predictions which became accurate except for his weight.
23. Near the end of the 2012 NFL season, Kaepernick’s signature touchdown celebration earned him a photo fad by his namesake, called “Kaepernicking”.
24. The signature touchdown pose involves flexing and kissing the bicep of his right arm. Kaepernick says he kisses his “Faith”, “To God The Glory”, and Psalm 18:39 tattoos and the reason he does the celebration is because “…it’s my way of saying I don’t really care what people think about my tattoos” and “God has brought me this far. He has laid out a phenomenal path for me. And I can’t do anything but thank Him.”
25. He reportedly started dating radio personality and television host Nessa in July 2015 and officially went public about their relationship in February 2016.
26. Kaepernick began following a vegan diet in late 2015.
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