As he crossed the stage as a 2006 Pitman High School graduate, Colin Kaepernick was already well known as an outstanding three-sport student-athlete. This past week has seen a culmination of the entire country knowing who Colin Kaepernick is – one of the outstanding quarterbacks in NCAA history as he finished his collegiate career leading his No. 13 University of Nevada Wolf Pack to a 20-13 victory and a 13-1 season over Boston College in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at San Francisco’s AT&T Park.
Over the course of four seasons as Nevada’s staring quarterback, Kaepernick has amassed an incredible record of achievements, but this humble role model says it is always about the team, that no one does it alone. No team victory was more important to Colin or possibly the entire state of Nevada than their 34-31 overtime victory over then No. 3 Boise State. This victory also brought the Wolf Pack a share of the WAC Conference title.
However before, Boise State, before Boston College, before being a part of NCAA history there was Pitman High School. Many called Kaepernick “Bo”, in reference to Bo Jackson, who was an All-Star in both baseball and football. Kaepernick was six years old when his brother gave him the nickname
During his tenure at Pitman, Colin excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. Kaepernick was named the Central Cal Conference MVP his senior year in football. He led the Pride to two CCC football championships and into section playoffs, and also led both basketball and baseball into sections. The 2006 baseball team made to the section finals. For all of this Kaepernick was named the Sac-San Joaquin section Scholar –Athlete of the Year.
A word of advice during a phone interview Kaepernick offered some sage advice to current Pitman students, “Be the best, you can be, and to think about what you want your life to be, not on what’s popular or the hot spot.”
Throughout high school, graduation was one of Colin’s favorite memories, along with just being on campus and hanging out with friends. From the beginning to the end, “something I had been always looking forward to in high school, was graduating.”
Going into college he felt he was well prepared and the education he got was great; as for football, he claims the coaches are wonderful supporters and kept him focused on his goals.
Colin Kaepernick has accomplished a great deal since becoming the starting quarterback six games into his redshirt freshman season at Nevada. He is the first player in FBS history to have three seasons of 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing. He is first player in FBS history to have 10,000 career passing yards and 4,000 career rushing yards (he needs 94 passing yards to reach 10,000. He is the third player in FBS history to have a 20-20 season (passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns), joining Florida’s Tim Tebow (2007) and Auburn’s Cam Newton (2010). He is tied with Nebraska’s Eric Crouch (1998-2001) with 59 career rushing touchdowns in becoming the all-time leader in by a quarterback. Along with running back Vai Taua, they became the most prolific rushing duo in FBS history, totaling 8,602 career yards and additionally with Tau, they became the all-time leaders in most touchdowns (113) and total points scored (682) in a career. Last year with Taua and running back Luke Lippincott, he was part of the only trio in FBS history to each have a 1,000-yard rushing season (2009)
The only concern left for Colin and his family is where the future will take him. His fans hope for a great NFL career. Wherever it goes, he is sure to “Be the best, he can be.”