Kaepernick Special: Hot dog wins competition in Turlock

TURLOCK -- Colin Kaepernick is a hot dog. That’s not a critique of the quarterback’s playing style; that’s a fact.

The Kaepernick Special made its first appearance on the menu at Main Street Footers Thursday. The restaurant, a mainstay in downtown Turlock for decades, held a contest to come up with a hot dog named for the former Pitman High football standout who starts at quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.

Football and hot dog aficionados submitted a variety of ideas, said Molly Amant, the Footers employee who ran the contest. One suggestion: a hot dog topped with crab, shrimp and cocktail sauce.

“I didn’t taste that one,” Amant said.

Needless to say, that particular submission did not emerge victorious.

Jim Yettman’s proposal did.

Yettman, 76, said he entered the contest “on a whim” after seeing it mentioned on Channel 31, a television station based in Sacramento.

“I’m retired,” he said, smiling. “I need to find things to do.”

Yettman’s concoction: A hot dog with chili, cabbage, red and yellow bell peppers, jalapeños and a secret sauce consisting of mustard, horseradish, thousand island dressing, and a dash of cayenne pepper. It’s a brilliant combination, though Yettman said his inspiration was pretty pedestrian.

“I was just looking around the refrigerator and put it together,” he said. “I thought, ‘What the heck, I’ll give it a shot.’ ”

He beat out a pulled pork-topped hot dog and a pizza-themed version with pepperoni and olives.

It wasn’t exactly a blowout like the one Kaepernick led the Niners to in his Nov. 19 debut against the Chicago Bears: Yettman won by two votes.

The longtime 49ers fan — he used to watch John Brodie play at Kezar Stadium — said it is especially exciting to watch the team play this year with a Turlocker at the helm as they enter the playoffs. Yettman said he’s confident of a victory on Saturday, predicting a 35-24 win over Green Bay.

As the prize for his own win, Yettman will get a free lunch every month for a year. On Thursday, he took home a Kaepernick Special. But he figures he’ll branch out over the next 12 months. “I’m sure I’ll try the other ones, too,” he said.

He can try them, but there’s a good chance he’ll come back to his own creation: The Kaepernick Special is pretty tasty. That’s not a fact; that’s a critique.