All About Colin Kaepernick's Adoptive Parents, Rick and Teresa Kaepernick
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Meet Colin Kaepernick's adoptive parents.
The former NFL quarterback, who famously played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers, was raised by Teresa and Rick Kaepernick, a Wisconsin couple who adopted Colin just weeks after he was born in December 1987.
Colin was born to Heidi Russo when she was 19 years old; in recent years, she has opened up about her past in interviews and on social media, citing the act of putting her son up for adoption as one of the "toughest decisions" she's ever made.
Colin, who is biracial and identifies as Black, has been open about the unique challenges of growing up within a white adoptive family. In 2021, the athlete collaborated with Netflix to release a scripted series, Colin in Black & White, chronicling his past experiences.
Most recently, Colin — who welcomed his first child with girlfriend Nessa Diab in August 2022 — said in an interview with CBS News that his White parents struggled to embrace their son's racial differences.
"I know my parents loved me, but there were still very problematic things that I went through," Colin told the outlet while promoting his new graphic novel, Change the Game. He mentioned a time when he wanted to get cornrows, and his mom pushed back, calling the hairstyle "unprofessional" and that he would look like "a little thug."
"I think it was important to show, 'No, this can happen in your own home.' And how do we move forward collectively while addressing the racism that is being perpetuated," he explained.
In the past, Colin has spoken positively about his parents' willingness to be open and learn from their mistakes: "We've always been very loving in the process, and you know I wouldn't do it with anybody else."
Here's everything to know about Teresa and Rick Kaepernick, the couple who raised Colin Kaepernick.
They adopted Colin when he was six weeks old
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Teresa and Rick adopted Colin when he was six weeks old from his biological mom Heidi Russo (Colin does not have a relationship with his biological father).
Heidi, then 19, raised Colin for a few weeks while looking for the right family to raise him. Teresa and Rick were introduced to Heidi through a mutual friend, and in December 1987, they welcomed him into their family via adoption.
"I'll never forget that day," Teresa told ESPN 26 years later. "They brought him in an infant carrier and set him down. The birth mother was there. I looked at her and she nodded and I just picked him up out of the carrier. The minute I picked him up, I just cried. We gave her a big hug. She needed a couple more minutes. And then we left."
Heidi has spoken on her YouTube channel about the moment she found out she was pregnant with Colin and the events that unfolded in the weeks that followed. She has also spoken about the adoption process, explaining how she chose the family for Colin.
They had birth kids of their own before adopting Colin
Colin Kaepernick/instagram
Teresa and Rick welcomed two kids of their own before adopting Colin in 1987. They gave birth to sons Kyle and daughter Devon. Sadly, they also lost two newborn boys, Lance and Kent, to congenital heart defects.
"I think about them every day," Teresa told ESPN of Lance and Kent. "What we went through. What they went through. They played a role in all of this."
Their decision to welcome Colin into their family came out of "a sudden desire that our family wasn't complete," Teresa has said.
For years, the Kaepernicks have given back and supported charities — like Camp Taylor, a non-profit that supports young people and families of children with heart disease — in an effort to create awareness for a very personal cause.
"We're blessed," Camp Taylor founder Kimberlie Gamino told CBS News in 2013. "It's been incredible for children with heart disease. It's like they get robbed of part of their childhood. Colin, getting involved with us, has given them a piece of their childhood back."
They are from Wisconsin but moved to California
Colin Kaepernick/instagram
Teresa and Rick are from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin where they raised their kids before moving to California. They moved because of Rick's job as the senior vice president of growth and development at Hilmar Cheese Company.
Rick Kaepernick had a longtime career in the cheese industry
Colin Kaepernick/instagram
As a native of the state that's home to the cheese capital of the world, it's no surprise that Rick worked in the dairy industry for the majority of his life. In 1991, he began a career at Hilmar Cheese Company, where he helped in establishing the company's protein production facility.
Rick's job at Hilmar came after a 17-year career at Borden. He was also involved in several other dairy industry organizations, including California Creamery Operators Association (where he served as president).
He's also been a board member of the American Dairy Products Institute (ADPI), the Center of Excellence Task Force, the Dairy Institute of California and the Dairy science Advisory Council and Masters of Professional Studies at Cal Poly. Rick had reportedly planned to retire from Hilmar in June 2015.
As for Teresa, she worked as a nurse throughout Colin's childhood. His birth mother, Heidi, also became a nurse as well.
They supported Colin's decision to take a knee in 2015
Colin Kaepernick/instagram
Colin's decision to kneel during the National Anthem at a San Francisco 49ers game in protest of racial injustice and police brutality in 2016 drew mixed opinions from the public. Among them was former President of the United States, Donald Trump.
"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you'd say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He's fired," Trump said, regarding the players who joined Kaepernick in protest.
But Teresa stood up for her son and #TakeAKneeMovement Colin started that year. "Guess that makes me a proud bitch!" she tweeted, in response to a journalist sharing an article with Trump's comments.
Both Teresa and Rick have opened up about their son's decision to protest, speaking out against claims that they "didn't support" him. They released a statement in December 2016, saying, "As his parents, it pains us to read articles and tweets saying that his family does not support him; this could not be further from the truth. We want people to know that we are very proud of our son and admire his strength and courage in kneeling for the rights of others."
RELATED: Nessa Diab and Colin Kaepernick Announce Birth of Their First Child: 'We Are Over the Moon'
Raising Colin has been a learning process for the whole family
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Kaepernick is very close with his parents (when asked by ESPN columnist Rick Reilly why he didn't wish to meet his birth mother, Kaepernick said, "It's just -- that's my family. That's it."). But he is open about the challenges they have experienced; in a 2018 interview with VH1, the former football player opened up about the learning process he and his family have experienced as he grew older.
"You have a family that you love, but you know you don't look like. At a young age, I understood that I was different," Colin said of his childhood, while sitting alongside his mom Teresa. "As I got older... my identity developed and my place in society and my understanding of that developed. My parents and my family had to develop as well."
He continued, "I think that's just been a constant journey for us and one that we've worked through. We've always been very loving in the process and you know I wouldn't do it with anybody else."
The topic of Teresa and Rick raising "a Black child in a predominantly white family and community" was also heavily explored in Colin in Black & White, Netflix's 2021 scripted series that chronicled Kaepernick's years as a Black teen growing up with a white adoptive family and how it informed the person he is today.
