Colin Kaepernick and Jim Harbaugh's 49ers Dynasty Proves You Should Never Get Attached to Anything

Colin Kaepernick and Jim Harbaugh were on the losing side of Super Bowl XLVII. For those of you who don’t live your lives one Roman numeral at a time, that game was played on February 3, 2013. Kaepernick and Harbaugh were in their second seasons in San Francisco. The present and future were bright. The 49ers had a passionate 49-year old head coach and a 25-year old franchise quarterback. The team was set for a decade.

It has been just three and a half years since that Super Bowl. It’s been just two and a half years since the 49ers were in the next season’s NFC Championship. That was a lifetime and maybe a career ago.

Harbaugh signed a 5-year deal with the 49ers in 2011.  A few months later, he drafted Kaepernick in the 2nd round of the draft. We (Lisk) thought he could have a great rookie season under Harbaugh. He didn’t. Lisk also thought Harbaugh could be successful as an NFL coach. He was. Harbaugh and Kaepernick had the Niners in the Super Bowl during their second seasons.

Kaepernick signed a 6-year contract extension with the 49ers in 2014 while Harbaugh was still coach. It was reported to be the most guaranteed money in NFL contact history. This was, of course, complete bullshit. At the time Jason Lisk noted that it was a great deal – for the Niners.

Harbaugh coached in San Francisco four seasons before leaving for [his next opportunity] while Kaepernick stayed and struggled. This week he decided to take a political stand that could end his career. Meanwhile, Harbaugh is in Michigan doing things on social media and having weird sleepovers with teenagers.

Both men had meteoric NFL rises and even quicker falls. As a controversial football player, Kaepernick may never get another chance. As a white football coach, Harbaugh will have plenty. Kaepernick’s only previous off-field controversy took place back in 2012 when the words of a columnist were what had people debating his character.

It was just three years and a half years ago we were making fun of the people who missed on Kaepernick. Look at what the draft experts had to say about the future Super Bowl quarterback. More colleges wanted him to play baseball than football!

Perhaps that could be Kaepernick’s next stop – baseball with Tim Tebow. Just another running quarterback who has a strong point of view and long ago experienced a little success on the field – and now gets way too many page views to justify paying someone to hold a clipboard. Kaepernick and Tebow are distractions so they’ve washed out of the NFL in favor of slightly younger options who will never inspire a question in a press conference.

It’s crazy. Kaepernick and Harbaugh were in the Super Bowl, like, yesterday! And that’s why you should never love anything in sports. Best case scenario, you end up cheering a Super Bowl win. All of the million other scenarios end with you burning a piece of clothing you paid $100+ for, like, 3 years ago.