San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick confident heading into season

Skepticism about the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been a theme during this football offseason after the team came off an 8-8 finish last year. And new 49ers coach Jim Tomsula certainly has his skeptics.

But Tomsula gave the most simple piece of advice Kaepernick said could end up quieting the skeptics.

“Just go out and be you,” said Kaepernick about the advice he took to heart from Tomsula. “Nobody expects anything different. I’ve always tried to be myself.”

That should come as good news to 49er fans who would certainly like a more free-wheeling style of play at quarterback from Kaepernick, the kind of play that took the University of Nevada to heights never seen before and the 49ers to the Super Bowl in the 2012 season.

Kaepernick talked about the offseason during a brief media conference before Friday’s Governor’s Dinner in which he was the keynote speaker at the Governor’s Mansion. The event also featured Carson City’s Molly Seals of American Idol fame who provided entertainment. The dinner is a fundraiser for athletic programs at the university.

Kaepernick said he’s as confident as ever. “My confidence level is always going to be the same.”

The 49ers have certainly gone through their share of changes during the offseason which Kaepernick noted.

“Very excited for the season,” he said. “A lot of new faces in the locker room and a lot of new coaches. I think the changes are for the good.”

He admitted he didn’t know how good the 49ers are going to be based on the offseason. “It’s hard to tell,” Kaepernick said. But he did say he likes what he sees.

“I feel very confident in our team,” Kaepernick said. “I feel people are writing us off, but for us, that’s all right.”

About the offseason, which has included working out with former NFL great quarterback Kurt Warner, Kaepernick said, “I tried to work on every aspect of my game.”

Kaepernick led Nevada to its greatest season ever as a senior in 2010 when the Wolf Pack finished 13-1. He said about coming back to Northern Nevada, “It’s great to be back. It’s great to have an opportunity to come back and to have people want me back.”

It’s nice to “show appreciation to all the people who supported me,” Kaepernick said.

He said it was Nevada who gave him a shot to be the quarterback he is. “Any chance I have to come back and help out any way I can, I want to do that.”

Kaepernick noted when he first entered the NFL, there weren’t that many Nevada players, but last season he said there was normally at least one Nevada player on the opposing team virtually every week.

“Nevada players don’t get the same support other players have,” he said. “We have got high caliber athletes and high caliber people out here as well.”

One thing Kaepernick said he won’t do while he’s here in Northern Nevada is make another visit to Nes Andrion, the Reno tattoo artist he made famous.

“My mom’s going to try to shut that down as well,” he said.