Kaepernick: 49ers 'like a family'

NEW ORLEANS — San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick of Turlock talked with the media Sunday night shortly after the team touched down in New Orleans to begin a week's worth of preparations for Super Bowl XLVII. Here is what he had to say:

Question: How beneficial is it to have a head coach who was a NFL quarterback?Answer: "It is very beneficial. He knows what you are looking at, and he knows what you are going through. It makes it easier for him to relate."

Q: How would he describe the locker room right now?A: "It is really like a family. We are around each other more than we are around anybody else. The time we spend together, and the hard work we put in together, it is going to build a close team."

Q: What's your greatest Super Bowl memory as a fan?A: "I don't know. I can't pick one out. I just remember growing up watching the Super Bowl and being a big fan of it."

Q: Who was his favorite quarterback?A: "I was always a (Brett) Favre fan. I was born in Wisconsin, and my whole family was Packers fans, so I grew up watching him."

Q: How are you preparing for the Super Bowl?A: "It is just head-down, keep working. This isn't a time to relax and get out of your routine or stop working hard. This is when you should be working your hardest."

Q: How much do you see of yourself in head coach Jim Harbaugh?A: "I think both of us are very competitive. We want to do whatever it takes to win, so that is where the emotion and the excitement comes from."

Q: Is too much made of the quarterback play in the pistol and read-option?A: "I think people have put too much focus on me. I don't think they realize the other weapons we have on this team. I don't think they realize the great offensive line that we have. There are a lot of other parts on this team that do great things to make it easy for me to go out there."

Q: What do you remember about Ray Lewis as a player and person?A: "I have never met him, but his intensity that he brings to the game and the passion that he plays with is very admirable."

Q: What made you like Brett Favre growing up?A: "The passion he played with. He went out there and played like a kid. He was never afraid to take a chance making a throw. He was going to lay it on the line."

Q: Would you take as many risks as a quarterback as Favre did?A: "I think it is being smart and taking calculated risks. You don't want to just be throwing balls up, but there are also times where you have to take chances."

Q: What what your biggest adjustment was during your rookie season?A: "The biggest thing in my rookie year was the terminology of the playbook was completely different from what I was used to. Just picking up on that was the biggest task."

Q: What's your biggest memory of the 49ers as a fan?A: "My biggest memory of the 49ers was when they beat the Packers in the playoffs (in 1999) with T.O. (Terrell Owens) down the middle." (Kaepernick said he was rooting for the Packers that day).

Q: What was the competition like in training camp last summer for the backup QB role?A: "It was hard work, and it was a competition. I was trying to do everything I could to prove that I needed to be at least No. 2, and that I could go out and play."

Q: Did you think the college offense would work in the NFL?A: "I thought it would work to some extent. I didn't think it was something you could run every play. There are too many good athletes on defense at this level. Not so much the speed, just the fact that everybody is good on defense. There are not really too many people you can just pick on in the NFL like there is in college."