Colin Kaepernick continued his dominance of July headlines.
On the slowest sports day of the year in the slowest news month on the NFL calendar, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback won the 2013 ESPY award for Breakthrough Athlete.
Kaepernick picked up the honor over tough competition: Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, Los Angeles of Anaheim center fielder Mike Trout and Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig.
[ PHOTOS: KAEPERNICK AT THE ESPYS ]
In just 10 starts, San Francisco's athletic quarterback took the sports world by storm with his unique brand of football and signature touchdown celebration, "Kaepernicking." The 49ers quarterback earned style points for his highlight-worhy performances in 2012 and picked up more attention for his colorful attire at the award show. Once Kaepernick was announced as an ESPY winner, he immediately popped up from his front row seat with a big grin on his face.
"Wow," said Kaepernick after receiving the honor at the Wednesday night award show.
"First, thank you to the ESPYs for having me in attendance with so many great athletes in here, so many great people.
"I want to thank my family for being there with me the whole time through everything. Thank you to the 49ers, my teammates for making all of this people.
"Let's go Niners. Golden state of mind. Thank you."
Kaepernick's fans voted for him early and often to help him edge some of the most talked about athletes in professional sports. Kaepernick made sure to give a shoutout to his team and the entire Bay Area.
In turn, the 49ers quarterback was also supported by his teammates. Some were in attendance at the award show, others chimed in with comments on Twitter.
Here are some of the most notable tweets about the 49ers quartertback.
My first espy! Thank you to my family, my teammates, and the 49ers! #grateful #GoldenStateofMind http://t.co/vjn6HpAl5G — Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 18, 2013
I see you Kap! Congratz #Espys — MarQueis Gray (@MarQueisG) July 18, 2013
Is that Ricardo Lockette front and center at the Espys?! Haha kaepernick7 http://t.co/57uee3dbqO — Al Netter (@AlNetter) July 18, 2013
Thank you to all the fans for helping me win my first ESPY! Know that my focus is on that Lombardi trophy! #questfor6 #goldenstateofmind — Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 18, 2013
@Kaepernick7 take ur shades off its not sunny — Joe Staley (@jstaley74) July 18, 2013
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