Here's why that 'Colin Kaepernick is self-centered and Russell Wilson is not' comparison is incredibly unfair...
Jared Sperli stashed this in 49ers
I'm cutting and pasting it all:
Enter the aforementioned unfair image mentioned in our title. Presumably created by a Seahawks fans, it mines the Instagram accounts of both quarterbacks to paint a picture of Wilson as a charitable and giving person who spends all his time visiting sick children in hospitals while Kaepernick is someone who is only concerned with his tattoos, his sneakers and his celebrity friends.
Here's a sample:
Wilson and Kaepernick
The image has been viewed almost 500,000 times on imgur alone and it's not hard to see why it resonates with Seahawks fans or those casual observers who don't like Kaepernick for whatever reason.
Here's the thing, though: This comparison might be one of the more unfair things on the Internet.
Which is saying something.
While no one's debating the community service Wilson does in Seattle, the Kaepernick side has been cherrypicked to only show a certain side of the Niners quarterback. No pictures of Kaepernick working with charities or rubbing shoulders with fans are shown.
And whoever created this image didn't need to look far for that type of evidence, either. Kaepernick has been very involved with Camp Taylor, a charity in Salida, Calif. that provides support for children with heart defects. Apart from financial donations, Kaepernick has spent time with the children at Camp Taylor and has been involved with the charity's golf tournament. Go check out Camp Taylor's Twitter feed and all you'll find are children showing their love for Kaepernick during Sunday's win over the Carolina Panthers.
The Modesto Bee explains why Kaepernick feels so strongly about Camp Taylor:
Kaepernick's parents, Rick and Teresa, lost two infant boys to heart disease. Born between oldest son Kyle and daughter Devon, Lance lived 23 days and underwent two heart surgeries before passing. Kent died at 4 days old.
"It was Colin that got us involved with Camp Taylor," says Teresa Kaepernick. "He had just been drafted by the 49ers and he had received a check for something. He said, 'I want to donate this check somewhere where it'll help kids with heart defects.' That just blew me away. "Losing children to heart disease wasn't something we really talked a lot about as a family, but obviously he had given a lot of thought to this."
But Kaepernick wanted to do more than just endorse a check. "Colin goes all out for the kids," says [Camp Taylor's Kimberlie] Gamino. "He's all about the kids, making them smile and being there for them on their level ... well, not really, he's 6-foot-4. "Last year, he was supposed to be at the camp for three hours; he stayed seven."
Maybe that's not image that Seahawks fans or Kaepernick haters see (or want to see) when they think of him, but it's important to note that both quarterbacks share something more than just an onfield job description. There are so many good storylines in this NFC championship that we don't need to set up some sort of Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader narrative between the guys under center.
And so, in the interest of fairness, we've decided to show a few good photos of Kaepernick hanging with his kids at Camp Taylor. These deserve to be shared on Twitter and Facebook a lot more than that misguided comparison photo that ends with "Go Hawks!"
Thanks to Niners Nation for singling some of these tweets out.
Amen.
8:54 PM Jan 13 2014