Let me shed a little light on how this whole "Kaepernick-ing" thing started. There was a article written by a sports columnist about CK and his tattoos.
http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/sto...9ers-qb-start-alex-smith-stats-contract-draft
He basically said CK looked like a "prison yard inmate" and that a QB is the face of a franchise and they should be clean cut and ink free. Colin and his family took offense to it, noting that all his tattoos had biblical references and on each of his arms are bible verses. When asked about his tats by local beat writers, CK said something to the effect of he was proud of his tattoos and that he would never shun them to fit whatever imagine someone else thought he should be. And when asked about what he thought about the article, his response was "you'll see on Sunday". So the next game, after he scored a TD, he kissed each bicep....and "Kaepernicking" was born.
And there was a local Bay Area t-shirt company that approached Colin about the shirts. He had no clue that his celebration even had a name. He liked the shirts and gave the company permission to make them. They even make ones that incoperate his tattoos in the graphics and 30% of all the proceeds go to his charity.
As far as spiking the ball goes, I thought it was wrong. I know he was fired up but you don't show up your opponent like that. It was big play. It was a big hit. He was fired up so I understand it. Didn't like it...but I played sports, I know how instensity can take over sound judgement, so I get it. As for celebrations, I don't think any long, drawn out celebration have any place in the game. But stuff like "The Belt", or Cam's "Clark Kent" is fine by me in the grand scheme of things.
As far as sportsmanship, what fuels CK is the same thing that fuels Rodgers. Same thing that fuels Brady. They carry that chip on his shoulder. CK was always told he wasn't good enough. He never got recruited in high school. He sent his HS tape to over 50 major college programs and only one, Nevada, offered him a scholarship. Had a brillant college career. Only player in the history of college football to throw for over 10, 000 yards, and rush for over 4, 000. But all scouts and pundits could talk about pre-draft was his throwing motion and how he played against inferior competition, in a gimmicky offense. And ALL said that he wasn't worth a first round pick. So that fire you see him play with, is that determination to prove the doubters wrong. Something I see when I watch Rodgers play. Same thing that still motivates Brady to this day....the naysayers who told all three they were not good enough. So they get in guys faces. They don't back down. They may even showboat a little. That's part of that chip that's still there.