Hard work keeps Kaepernick ahead of the game

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A cloud of skunk spray wafts across the players' deserted parking lot, above which looms the 49ers' embryonic stadium.

Skunks don't do daylight, so yes, it's very early, a few minutes before 6, Wednesday morning. The first shift of stadium-construction workers hasn't yet fired up its equipment, so the scene is quiet. Players are not required to report for work until 8:45.

I was in Indianapolis over the weekend covering the Raiders-Colts and read an excellent profile in the Indianapolis Star on Andrew Luck, painting him as the un-celebrity quarterback.

The article quotes an Advertising Age reporter and sports-business expert, Michael McCarthy, on Luck turning down millions of dollars of offseason endorsement deals.

"He decided he didn't want to take the focus off football," McCarthy said. "If you're the 49ers, you have to ask yourself if you want Colin Kaepernick running all over the place and shooting commercials in the offseason. If you're the Redskins, do you want RGIII doing the same thing? For the most part, teams don't want their players distracted."

I pause here to give 49ers players and coaches a moment to wipe away tears of laughter.

On this, a typical morning, the only thing that might distract Colin Kaepernick from his mission might be a skunk waddling in front of his car as he swings into the driveway.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick stretches before an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in San Francisco, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick stretches before an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in San Francisco, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Hard work keeps Kaepernick ahead of the game 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

At exactly 6:01, Kaepernick's car glides into the empty lot and into the parking space nearest the entry gate. Wearing a knit cap and sweatshirt, Kaepernick hops quickly out of the car.

My plan is to say hi and ask him a couple questions, but Kaepernick slips through the gate like a spy and is gone. Elusive even in a parking lot.

Sunup is exactly 46 minutes away, but the lot is brightly lit. A few minutes later, I sneak a peek into the team's giant workout barn, also brightly lit, and Kaepernick is pounding a Stairmaster into submission.

That's your Hollywood quarterback, 49ers fans: always seeking the spotlight.

Let me make it clear that Kaepernick almost surely will frown when he learns a newspaper man staked out his arrival, like a skulking paparazzi, to verify reports of his early-birding. Kaepernick has been asked about it and always deflects the questions into praise for all his teammates.

The chronic early arrival is not designed to impress, is not an act of one-upsmanship over his teammates, although (again, I'm guessing) Kaepernick wouldn't mind if he were to inspire teammates to seek a slightly higher training gear.

And, in fact, he does.

Frank Gore, relentless footballer, tools into the players' lot at 6:32, beating the sun but not the Favored Son.

"I'm trying to beat Kaepernick," Gore tells me a couple of hours later. "I believe in 'First man here, last man to leave, best results.' "

Why arrive early?

"You get to do the extra stuff."

Did Gore ever beat Kaepernick to work?

"Tie a couple of times," Gore says with a smile, then adds, "I get Whitner."

Sure enough, safety Donte Whitner pulls into the lot at 6:48.

"I want to make sure I get my workout in," Whitner says later. "Really, I want to get my mind ready for the day."

Whitner adds, "Not too many people want to get up before 6. It means you are in bed early the night before."

During Wednesday's lunch break, Kaepernick does his weekly NFL mandated news conference in the locker room. I don't ask him about his work habits because I know I would get a nonanswer. For a celebrity quarterback, Kaepernick does not exert himself romancing the media. Many questions are greeted with mild discomfort, like when your dentist asks you if you've been flossing.

This is Kaepernick saying, I understand my media duty, but I'm here to work.

Does Kaepernick out-work Andrew Luck? That's like comparing apples and apples. Under the superficial differences - one guy is hip-hop, the other is uber-nerd - Luck and Kaepernick are practically twins.

Luck spent his offseason finishing his degree at Stanford. Kaepernick did a lot of Hollywooding, but they both worked like dogs on football.

Kaepernick always starts early.

"He's here when it's dark," says Mark Uyeyama, the 49ers' strength and conditioning coach.

Uyeyama takes care to salute the work ethic of all the players, but he gives a nod to the relentless nature of Kaepernick, whose conditioning, including plyometrics and other speed-enhancement work, is year-round.

"Kap's not gonna take down time," Uyeyama says. "He's just not."

The security guards at the entry gate say amen.

"He was here early every morning even on days when the other players weren't here," one of the guards says.

"He'll be out there doing crazy stuff," the other guard says. Running sprints in the dark. Pulling a weighted sled.

"Have you seen his abs?"

Not abs of tinsel, I would guess.