Sunday, October 11, 2009

NCAA Football Player of the Week: Colin Kaepernick

My brother is visiting me in NYC this weekend, and earlier this afternoon we traveled uptown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today's trip confirmed that the Met just might be my favorite museum ever -- but more on that later. For now, it's time to name the Stilettos on the Gridiron NCAA Football Player of the Week.

Before I get to this week's honoree, I have to mention Tim Tebow -- Tim Tebow is not the player of the week this week, but he almost was. Yesterday's game at LSU was Tebow's first since suffering a concussion during a game against Kentucky two weeks ago, and he looked great. Tebow lead the team to a victory in Baton Rouge -- it wasn't a blowout, nor was it a perfectly executed game, but Tebow looked strong, and the Gators pulled out a win. It was a good week for Florida fans.

This week's college football player of the week is another quarterback: Nevada's Colin Kaepernick. I had never seen Kaepernick play before Friday night, but I was completely transfixed as the Wolf Pack defeated Louisiana Tech in Reno, 37 - 14. Nevada's entire team is unusually tall and lanky for a football squad -- at 6 ft 6 inches and 215 lbs, Colin Kaepernick is no exception. And, when he wasn't sprinting down the field with the football, Kaepernick was passing the football with uncanny speed. (The back story behind his arm? Apparently, Kaepernick is also a star baseball player who throws a 94 mph pitch and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2009. When he was looking at colleges, he turned down several baseball scholarships in favor of Nevada's offer, which, interestingly, was his only football offer.)

Colin, this (virtual) trophy is for you:


Congratulations. And thanks for giving me one more reason to watch college football this season.

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