SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Chicago Cubs scout Sam Hughes watches Colin Kaepernick nowadays and still wonders what the strong-armed NFL quarterback might look like on a pitching mound, as a power arm in the pros. It's hard not to, seeing the zip and accuracy on each throw, the competitive fire and focus.
The Cubs never even watched Kaepernick throw a baseball before drafting him in the 43rd round almost four years ago. They did watch him throw a football for Nevada, and decided that college game told them more than enough.
Ultimately, the Cubs just couldn't lure Kaepernick away from his first love: football. Now, he's headed to the Super Bowl to lead the 49ers against Baltimore on Feb. 3.
Hughes, the longtime national cross-checker in the Cubs' scouting department, and several others, including then-general manager Jim Hendry, figured they should give it a shot and hope Kaepernick might reconsider. Hughes tried for two weeks to convince Kaepernick, who had made it all but clear he would not sign. He was surprised anybody drafted him at all given he had been so upfront about sticking with football.
But Chicago's NFL sources -- Hughes said three different teams -- figured Kaepernick would be a late-round pick or even someone who might have to go the route of the Canadian Football League.
That seems so laughable now. The Niners picked Kaepernick in the second round of the 2011 draft, made him the starter midseason this year
"I was looking at this tall, kind of gangly at the time quarterback that was super athletic and had this really long throwing motion," Hughes said. "I was talking to some of my buddies at Reno and said, ‘Boy, I wonder if this kid's ever played baseball, he's got an arm stroke like a pitcher."'
That sent Hughes on a research project. Kaepernick regularly threw 90 mph in high school, but was now some 40 pounds heavier as a college football player.
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