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What 49ers QB, Colin Kaepernick, Can Teach You About Breaking Into Sports

Colin KAs I’m watching Super Bowl bound 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick answer Dan Patrick’s question, it reminded me of a very important, but underutilized, career development tactic. This is a simple exercise that anyone pursuing a sports career can easily implement and benefit from.

Here’s the quick Q&A:

Patrick: “Who was the quarterback you would play in the backyard when you were growing up?”

Keapernick: “I always played Brett Favre. I tried to model my game after him.”

Kaepernick wasn’t doing anything special. (Or was he?) We all pretended to be our favorite players growing up. Maybe you wanted to “Be Like Mike.” Or Troy Aikman. Or Jerry Rice. But Keapernick’s answer seems to take the idea of emulating a player in the backyard, or the playground, to a whole new level.

When Kaepernick said he, “modeled” his game after Favre’s, that’s different than just goofing around with your friends, pretending to be the gunslinging QB. By modeling Favre’s game, Kaepernick studied his favorite player’s moves, his demeanor and his attitude. He went on to describe the things he learned from modeling Favre: “Fearless.” “Confident.” Those traits served him well in the NFC Championship. We’ll see how things go on Super Bowl Sunday.

Modeling Strengthen’s Your Game

Tony Robbins, the world-famous motivational speaker dedicated his life to modeling successful people. “Through access to their experiences,” says Robbins, “modeling can help you discover strategies that can be applied to improve the quality of your life.” Or in your case, improve your chances for breaking into the sports industry.

Who Are You Modeling?

As a college student, or a young professional, you’re in a different place now. You need new sports heros. Not the kind that can throw touchdowns. While it’s fun to watch your favorite players dominate their sports, modeling them wouldn’t be as beneficial as modeling star sports executives dominating their areas of expertise.

Where to Find New Role Models

If you don’t know who the leading sports executives are in your chosen profession, I’ve got some good news. In the next edition of SPORTS LAUNCH – The Magazine, you will get a chance to discover some of the top sports executives in the United States in a new feature called, “The Sports Executive Dream Team 2013.”

We’re also going to give our readers — that includes you! — a chance to vote on who makes the Dream Team. In the next week or so, you can cast your vote for your favorite candidates in a wide-range of professions within the sports business industry right here on Sportsnetworker.com. If you don’t know some of them well enough to vote on, it will give you a good excuse to do a little homework. And if you’re smart, you’ll identify an executive you can model.

CHRIS’ KEYS:

When you study great people, and model the things they do well, be sure to write down the specific ways you can incorporate those things into your own game.

Comment below on how you can change the game. Make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @SportsNetworker for all your #SportsBiz

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2 Responses to What 49ers QB, Colin Kaepernick, Can Teach You About Breaking Into Sports

  1. rankdle May 14, 2023 at 9:21 pm #

    Your article was one of the most insightful and well-written pieces I’ve read on this topic.

  2. rainbow friends June 30, 2023 at 9:25 pm #

    The article is written in an engaging and accessible style that makes it easy to read and understand.

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