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Colin Kaepernick Almost Had A Successful Career In a Different Sport; Former QB Was Drafted In Another League Before NFL Career Took Off
Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, has been out of the NFL since 2017. Since then, he has been making immense efforts to return to the league. However, he hasn’t achieved any success yet. During his time in the league, he was a good quarterback, and he led the 49ers to one Super Bowl appearance as well.
Before the NFL, Kap played for the University of Nevada in his college career. However, Colin wasn’t a popular recruit during his college days. He just got one offer, and that was from Nevada. Even though he wasn’t a highly scouted player in football, he did have many offers for one other sport. It was baseball, and Colin was an excellent pitcher in his high-school days.
Ever wonder why @Kaepernick7 has such a strong arm? Baseball, of course: pic.twitter.com/3048sM23
— MLB (@MLB) February 3, 2013
Colin was a pitcher for the John H. Pitman High School in Turlock, California. In 59 games, Colin had a 1.38 ERA in 146 2/3 innings between his junior and senior seasons while posting a 15-6 record. He had 179 strikeouts against 67 walks, and opponents hit just .167 against him. On top of it, Colin was pretty decent at hitting the ball as well. As a result, many colleges offered him to play baseball, but he wanted to make a name for himself in football.
Even though Colin didn’t play much baseball during his college days, focusing more on football, he was still seen by one top MLB franchise. The Chicago Cubs decided to take a chance on him. Consequently, they drafted him in the 43rd round of the 2009 MLB draft. However, Colin Kaepernick refused the offer to play for the team. And went to try his luck in the NFL draft.
Cubs’ former director of scouting opened up on drafting Colin Kaepernick
The Chicago Cubs had offered Colin Kaepernick between $30,000 and $50,000 to play in the Arizona rookie league. However, Colin rejected that offer, as he was fully focused on making it to the NFL, which he ultimately did.
PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 20: Colin Kaepernick #7 of the San Francisco 49ers drops back to pass in the first quarter during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 20, 2015 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Cubs’ former director of scouting, Tim Wilken, once told NBC Sports about their thinking behind drafting Kaepernick who was a solid pitcher. He said, “When we went to our NFL sources, they thought he was just going to be a CFL guy, so I said: Hey, let’s take a run at (him). Our football guys said that he had a sling in his arm action and they didn’t think that was going to work in the NFL. They thought his release was long. This was like three different organizations telling us this.”
One can say that the decision turned out to be decent for him. He was able to make his name in the sport that he loved. Moreover, he had also inspired many people with his stance on social issues.
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