Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick revealed in his new Colin Kaepernick memoir that his mother once encouraged him to ask pop star Taylor Swift out because she thought they would suit each other.
Kaepernick recounts the exchange in “The Perilous Fight,” published by Legacy Lit on September 15. He wrote that Swift was simply “not my type,” while stressing that the comment was not intended as criticism of the singer.
His mother, Teresa Kaepernick, made the suggestion while he was playing in the National Football League, although Kaepernick did not specify exactly when. He played quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 through the 2016 season.
Kaepernick uses the Taylor Swift anecdote as part of a broader discussion in the memoir about race, identity and relationships while growing up as a Black child adopted by white parents.
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The former quarterback has long been in a relationship with media personality Nessa Diab, with whom he shares a child. Diab disclosed in 2025 that the couple had married years earlier.
Swift, meanwhile, began dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce in 2023. The couple married on July 3, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York City after announcing their engagement in 2025.
“The Perilous Fight” also covers Kaepernick’s football career and the events surrounding his 2016 decision to kneel during the U.S. national anthem in protest against racial injustice and police brutality.
