It is not a good time to be Colin Kaepernick.
Which is perhaps the oddest thing to say considering that for the last nine months, there has arguably not been anybody that it was better to be than Kaepernick. But with his undeniable burst on the scene, revolution within the pistol offense and near-fantastical Super Bowl comeback effort in the rear view, the demand on the San Francisco 49ers quarterback has changed. Now he is burdened by the weight of expectation, and not one that starts and ends with Niners themselves. Now, he is expected to answer to the people as well.
And this has not gone unnoticed by him either. In a week where he has had teammates sent to rehab, saw his team fall to 1-2 after being humbled at home by Andrew Luck and the new look Colts and has continued to muddle through a stretch where he has gone nine quarters since reaching the end zone, Kaepernick is beginning to react.
In St. Louis on Wednesday as he arrived to prepare for the Niners Thursday Night Football game against the Rams, he made it clear that he wasn’t interested in talking through it much. Also, the “outreach” from Twitter has not gone unnoticed either. A look through his Favorites list shows over 40 newly saved Tweets from critics that have had some fairly outspoken suggestions for how to turnaround his effort in the young season.
@Kaepernick7 you suck! We should've kept Alex Smith he probably wouldn't be getting wooped on by the colts, i'll tell you that much!! U suck
— HayCity™ (@Hay_Hayden) September 25, 2013
@Kaepernick7 is absolute garbage #StartColtMcCoy
— Connor Kerrigan (@ConnorKerrigan) September 24, 2013
@Kaepernick7 I hate you so much. I hope you fall off the face of the NFL planet and end up just another could've been, but never was QB
— Dan Biertzer (@DBiertz17) September 25, 2013
Regardless of the outcome, Thursday is a turning point for the Niners, who need to both stop their losing streak and gather themselves some amid the tornado of early season expectation and injured (and otherwise downtrodden) personnel issues. But Kaepernick is getting a crash course in how easy it is to be a part of the race, until you fall behind the pace. The easiest way to end it all may be to pay more attention to what work back in week one, than what’s been said between weeks two and four, because that is the only way to make sure they vultures don’t circle forever.
Here’s what else is going on around the still-young sports (and otherwise) world:
The Gospel According to Bus: Brett Favre still could play in NFL – NFL
Bucs Bench Josh Freeman – ESPN
You Tube Debuts Royalty-Free Music, For Free – Engadet
Drake Officially Shut Hip-Hop's Door On Gen X With NWTS - The Shadow League
Jason Giambi Becomes Oldest To Hit Walk Off Home Run - The Huffington Post
Josh Freeman Benched For Mike Glennon: Panic Move by Greg Schiano? - The Big Lead
Spurred by "The Book of Manning", Archie Manning Faces Checkered Family History - ESPN
The One-Hit Wonder: the St. Louis Cardinals have another prodigy in the works in Michael Wacha – i70 Baseball
Wait, Writers Don’t Know What They Mean? – Medium
