Randy Moss: Colin Kaepernick Gave Me My First Dislocated Finger

November 19, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and wide receiver Randy Moss (84) talk before the start of the game against the Chicago Bears at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /

When it comes to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the young gun. He has been discussed so often in the past few weeks that even his tattoos have become a topic of discussion. Now, thanks to veteran receiver Randy Moss, it’s not Kaepernick’s ink that is getting the publicity — it is his arm strength.

Moss said that Kaepernick throws harder than any quarterback he has ever played with. In fact, the man his teammates know as “Kap,” threw the ball so hard in his first NFL start that it resulted in a first for Moss’ career as well.

“Man, he dislocated my finger,” Moss said, per CSNBayArea.com. “[H]e had to put one them Randy Johnson fastballs on me. When it hit my finger, I felt my finger pop — dislocated it. So I had to come back to the sideline and the doctor had to pop it back in.

“I try to take pride in taking care of my body and finessing the balls as they come to me, but Kap throws hard. He’s very strong and he works out every day. And I didn’t really say anything to him other than, ‘Keep doing what he’s doing.’ My finger will heal up. It hurt. It hurt. It really did. I tried not to show any tears. I don’t know if they caught me crying or not. But it did hurt, but like I said, it’s not the time of the year to be crying because it’s late in the season. Everybody’s hurting. Everybody’s ailing. Everybody’s feeling a little bit of pain. Some go home and some keep moving. And we want to be the team that keeps moving.”

Not only is Moss impressed with his young quarterback’s arm strength, but Kaepernick has been able to step into the huddle and provide a type of leadership that is very rare for a signal-caller with so few NFL starts under his belt.

“I think that Kap’s been able to come in and lead us as a whole unit,” Moss said. “Any time a guy can come in and lead like that, and I don’t mean verbally, I mean leading by example, it’s what we as football players look for in a player, especially a quarterback. So I really just compliment his leadership and going out there and leading our offense up and down the field.”

There is no doubt that the hype train for Kaepernick is going to keep rolling, but it looks like there is a lot more to the youngster out of Nevada’s game. He isn’t just hype. He is the real deal and he is convincing his teammates that he is the man that will lead them to the promise land.