Colin Kaepernick: Calm and Quiet at the Top

Colin Kaepernick: Calm and Quiet at the Top
by Daniel Holzhauer

If 2011 was the “Year of the Quarterback,” then 2012 was the Year of the Young Quarterback. Four players who entered the season with no career NFL starts led their teams to the playoffs, but after all the talk that surrounded rookies RG III, Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson, it is Colin Kaepernick that's left standing.

"My dream was to play in the NFL. I wouldn’t say my dream has come true yet. There’s still a lot of work to do,” said Kaepernick at the Super Bowl XLVII media day.

Kaepernick did not say much else to the media, but everyone else was more than happy to praise him.

“Colin deserves all the credit for the way he's produced, the way he's acquitted himself in these games. Our team has great faith in him. The thing you see in his eyes is the competitive fire, the poise beyond his years,” said 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh. “Colin has worked extremely hard. He has studied extremely hard. He's a wonderfully focused young man and competes like a maniac.”

But this was not supposed to be Kaepernick's year. In 2011, former number 1 overall draft pick Alex Smith and the 49ers were just two Kyle Williams fumbles away from Super Bowl XLVI. Heading into week 10 of this season, the 49ers were 6-2 and Smith was completing over 70% of his passes. It looked like the QB-in-waiting would have to wait longer.

A concussion suffered by Smith in that week 10 game against the St. Louis Rams presented Kaepernick with an opportunity and started a controversy in front of everyone. On Monday Night Football, against a Chicago Bears defense that had already forced 30 turnovers, the Kaepernick era began.

Kaepernick threw two touchdowns in the game and showed off his huge arm, connecting with Williams for a 57-yard pass. The controversy was short-lived, and the young quarterback from the University of Nevada rewarded his coach’s confidence by leading his team to the Super Bowl.

With just seven starts under his belt, Kaepernick is not worried about experience.

He simply said, “I've always been prepared for this.”