Colin Rand Kaepernick was selected 36th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.
EverythingTop10 is proud to present, “The Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Colin
Kaepernick!”
#10.
Kaepernick was born in 1987 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Heidi Russo, a 19-year-old who
was single at the time.
His birth father, an African-American man, left Russo before Colin was born.
Russo placed Colin 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 losing two other
sons to heart defects.
Kaepernick became the youngest of their three children.
He lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, until age four, and attended grade school in Turlock,
California.
#9.
When he was eight years old, he began playing youth football as a defensive end and punter.
He then became his youth team’s starting quarterback at age nine, and he completed
his first competitive pass for a long touchdown.
A 4.0 GPA student at John H. Pitman High School in Turlock, California, he played football,
basketball, and baseball.
He was nominated for All-State selection in all three sports his senior year.
#8.
Kaepernick 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 #1 ranked Oak Ridge High School in the opening round of the playoffs.
In that game, Kaepernick scored 34 points, but Ryan Anderson of Oak Ridge scored 50 points
to beat Pitman. #7.
Kaepernick achieved most of his accolades in high school as a baseball pitcher and received
several scholarship offers in that sport, yet he desperately wanted to play college
football.
He was almost 6ʹ5ʺ as a senior, but weighed only 170 pounds and his coaches generally
kept him from running the ball to limit his risk of injury.
He also had poor throwing mechanics, despite his strong arm.
#6.
During his junior year, Larry Nigro, Pitman’s head coach at the time, made a highlight tape
that Kaepernick’s brother, Kyle, copied to DVD, then sent to about 100 Football Bowl
Subdivision programs.
Kaepernick received some interest, but no scholarship offers.
#5.
Even as a senior, Kaepernick received little attention from FBS schools.
Although the University of Nevada, Reno coaching staff frequently watched video of his high
school team, no one from the Nevada Wolf Pack football staff came to Turlock to see him
play during his senior football season.
Nevada 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 where
he was suffering from a fever of 102 °F. Nevada was the only school to offer him a
football scholarship, but was concerned that he would opt for baseball until he signed
in February 2006.
#4.
He was a two-time California all-state baseball player and was listed as a draftable prospect
on MLB’s website in the class of 2006.
He earned Northern California athlete of the week honors as a pitcher.
As a senior in high school, he threw a 92-mph fastball as reported during his first college
football start in 2007 against Boise State.
In his senior year of high school, he had an ERA of 1.265 with 13 starts and 10 complete
games.
He finished the year with an 11-2 record with 97 strikeouts and 39 walks.
In the 2009 MLB Draft, he was selected in the 43rd round by the Chicago Cubs.
He decided that he wanted to continue to play football at the University of Nevada, Reno
and chose not to sign with the Cubs. #3.
In Kaepernick’s senior season at the University of Nevada, Reno, he became the first player
in NCAA history to have over 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing for three consecutive
seasons.
He 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.
He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in December 2010 with a bachelor’s
degree in business management and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
#2.
In the 49ers’ final 2016 preseason game on September 1, 2016, Kaepernick opted to
kneel during the U.S. national anthem rather than sit as he did in their previous games.
He explained his decision to switch was an attempt to show more respect to former and
current U.S. military members while still protesting during the anthem, after having
a conversation with former NFL player and U.S. military veteran Nate Boyer.
#1.
In the following weeks, Kaepernick’s jersey became the highest-selling jersey on NFLShop.com.
An NFL fan poll was taken during the beginning of the 2016 NFL season, and he was voted the
most disliked player in the NFL; this poll was polarized, with 37% of Caucasians disliking
him “a lot”, and 42% of African-Americans liking him “a lot.”
That’s all folks!
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About Colin Kaepernick!”
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