COHN: Kaepernick's pregame ritual a glimpse of new QB concept

<p>SANTA CLARA</p><p>One of my Sunday pleasures is watching Colin Kaepernick warm up before games.</p><p>I sit in the press box at home or on the road waiting for him to appear, usually two hours before the game. He comes out in shorts and a sweatshirt, comes out when the field is deserted except for the practice-squad guys, and he goes through a long, involved routine.</p><p>He is an athlete getting his body ready. I am not saying he is a quarterback getting his body ready. “Athlete” is the operative word.</p><p>He runs wind sprints the length of the field, runs them alone, a solitary man practicing a solitary pursuit. Then he stretches his body on the grass in the end zone. With one side pressed against the turf, he does scissor kicks. He rolls onto the other side and performs more kicks.</p><p>He keeps warming up his legs, does nothing with his right arm for a long time. You think of a hurdler. He does dynamic stretching, working his hamstrings while he jogs and jumps. Every movement he's choreographed. Kaepernick is an athlete methodically awakening every relevant muscle in his body.</p><p>After a long time, he starts to throw the ball, but not the way you think. He stands still and throws without moving his legs. The first throw is usually 15 yards and it's a bullet. He throws using only his upper body.</p><p>When he's ready, he uses his whole body — plants his feet and throws like a quarterback. This he does for a long time while Jim Harbaugh observes. The whole time he is unto himself, behind an invisible barrier. He carries himself like an athlete in a solo sport — a runner, a fighter, a tennis player. He was a pitcher in high school, threw a 94 mph fastball, got drafted by the Cubs — and in baseball, pitcher is as solitary as it gets. He is a man alone the way Jerry Rice was alone before games. He immerses himself in his world of brain and body and he gets ready.</p><p>I imagine when he returns to the locker room he is drenched in sweat. I imagine many football players could not survive his warm-up.</p><p>I have seen him without his shirt. Every muscle in his upper body is defined — he could be the chart of the body's muscles in a doctor's office. When I see his upper body, I think boxer — Muhammad Ali, Ray Leonard.</p><p>Donte Whitner once said, if he didn't know Kaepernick was a quarterback, he'd think Kaepernick was a tight end. It's Kaepernick's athlete's body.</p><p>His pregame warm-up matters — it shows how he conceptualizes being a quarterback. He is not the typical quarterback and his is a new concept. The typical quarterback may or may not be a superior athlete. The typical quarterback can throw the hell out of the ball and he reads defenses, but he doesn't need to be fast. Being elusive in the pocket is enough.</p><p>Not so with Kaepernick.</p><p>He is the prototype of the new quarterback model. In this new model the quarterback is the best athlete on the team. He is not some pretty good athlete with a great arm — think Dan Marino, Joe Namath.</p><p>This new model is radically different from, say, the Tom Brady model, which is an elite model, a Hall of Fame model that soon may be an anachronism. Because Brady is not fast and almost never runs with the ball — he really is the ultimate passing machine — there is a way to beat him. Put extreme pressure on Brady, just bring the house. And if you are lucky you will frustrate him, put him off his game. That's exactly what the 49ers did in the first half on Dec. 16 until Justin Smith got hurt and left the game and the pressure on Brady went away.</p><p>The 49ers did the same thing to Aaron Rodgers last Saturday, made the great Rodgers uncomfortable, and when he was uncomfortable and couldn't pass the way he wanted, that was end-game.</p><p>Kaepernick is more volatile than Brady and Rodgers. I would not dare say he is better. Kaepernick has so much to prove. But I saw what I saw on Saturday. The Packers tried to pressure him. No problem, he simply ran away from them. Some of his astonishing runs were improvised. Clay Matthews was supposed to be the best linebacker this side of Patrick Willis. Kaepernick ran away from him as easily as breathing. Just ran. Kaepernick is too fast for Clay Matthews. Tom Brady is not.</p><p>I come back to Kaepernick and his pregame ritual, to Kaepernick doing what an athlete does. He is where the position is heading. He is 6-4, 230 — a big man. He has a rocket arm and can stand in the pocket. And he can run.</p><p>We thought Michael Vick was the new model in quarterbacks. Not really. He was an early attempt at a new model, an attempt that was just so-so and may need to be recalled. Russell Wilson fits the new concept. Cam Newton fits the new concept.</p><p>Colin Kaepernick defines this new concept.</p><p>For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.</p>