When you’re a top candidate for the Hall of Fame, there are some tough choices you have to make within your team, even after you’re retired. Patrik Willis was put in a similar situation in his interview with former teammate Sean McCoy. He was asked about the better QB among Colin Kaepernick and Brock Purdy; as the lead QB in the losing Super Bowl season, taking him back to the year of 2012, when the 49rs were so close, yet so far from the Super Bowl, losing it to the Ravens.

The Niners had to succumb to a similar fate in 2024, with Brock Purdy as their starting QB. Willis’s answer might come as a major shock to the young fans, but the projected Hall of Famer had had his reasons for calling Kaepernick the more seasoned QB. “I’m going to have to take Kap. He did what he needed to do. When we was playing, I know it may not be it may not have been in a way that a traditional quarterback throwing way like in comparisons but man him, you. Man, you guys were something electrifying. So yeah, I would most definitely I have to go with Kap,” Willis opined without a pinch of hesitation.

Being a true legend at heart, Willis also did not take a second thought to praise the way Purdy has been carrying the Niners this season. However, his favorite stays Colin Kaepernick, despite the highs, and especially the lows, he faced with the 49ers. The blackballing was the onset of Kaepernick’s downfall. While he turned to the social activism field with extremely sour relations with the Niners staff, he continued to foster a good image in his teammates’ minds, as evidenced by Willis’s response. However, his record, too, was enough to prove him as a seasoned player.

Kaepernick joined the 49ers in 2011. Through the 69 games he played with the team, he amassed a whopping 12,271 yardage, with 72 passing touchdowns, 30 interceptions, and 171 sacks, making his completion percentage 59.8%. On the rushing end, he amassed another 2,300 yards with 13 touchdowns and 13 fumbles.

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Even in the Super Bowl, Kaepernick threw for 302 yards, one passing touchdown, and ran for a touchdown. While the shade of the alleged blackballing of Kaepernick might have shadowed his records, the memories that his teammates hold of him are something they will always cherish. The spark of the debate might generate polarizing opinions as both Purdy and Kaepernick have a story to tell with their numbers. Which side do you pick?