Nevada was the only school to offer Kaepernick a football scholarship.
And he got his first start — also because of injury to the man ahead of him — as a redshirt freshman vs. Boise State, a school that had passed him over. He had three touchdown passes in a 69-67 overtime loss. He lost to Boise State twice more, then in 2010, with the Broncos bringing a 24-game winning streak and Bowl Championship Series title hopes to Reno, Kaepernick led a 34-31 overtime upset.
A few months later, Kaepernick roomed with Cam Newton at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. Newton went No. 1 overall while Kaepernick waited until the draft's second day to hear his name called.
"I talked to him after that," Harris says. "His mentality was, 'You know what, I'm going to crush that guy.'"
First Kaepernick would have to best another No. 1 overall pick: Smith, who led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game last season. A concussion gave Kaepernick his shot.
The Kaepernicks found out Colin was starting last week when they saw it announced on television. And he ignored his mom's text message a week earlier, when she asked him about the rumors of him starting.
