Colin Kaepernick surprised many casual football fans with his running skills as the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback last season. That apparently wasn't his top-end speed however, because Sports Illustrated's Peter King reports that Kaepernick trained with Olympic athletes over the summer in hopes of becoming more athletic.
Colin Kaepernick trained with Olympic runners in offseason
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback went to work during the offseason to learn better running techniques with athletes currently working toward the Olympics.
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Kaepernick trained in Atlanta with long-jumper Dwight Phillips and a few “speed technicians” in order to work on his stride and the way he contacts the ground while running in order to get a leg up on the competition. It apparently worked too, according to the quote he gave King.
“I trained with a few Olympic runners and jumpers,” Kaepernick told me. “Just to try to get a little bit faster, a little bit better. Anything I could do to try to get a little bit better and stay ahead of the competition. I think the biggest thing was the form of running and how to be more efficient when I run. I feel like that has helped me to this point, and it’s something I’m trying to improve on more and more, but I think those few weeks with them were very valuable.”
It’ll be difficult to tell if Kaepernick is indeed faster this season, considering he already had pretty good speed for an NFL quarterback. But just having more confidence in his legs will likely allow him to get out of the pocket and be even more dynamic this season.
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