Colin Kaepernick and his many tattoos are stealing the spotlight at this week's Super Bowl.
The former Nevada Wolf Pack quarterback, who will lead the San Francisco 49ers against the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's Super Bowl, can't go anywhere anymore without his tattoos becoming the center of attention.
"I got them for me and to show people this is what I believe in," said Kaepernick, whose tattoos are mainly bible verses and philosophy that express how he lives his life.
Kaepernick's sudden rise to NFL stardom has also made a star out of his tattoo artist. Nes Andrion, who was born in the Philippines and came to Nevada when he was 10-years-old, is Kaepernick's personal body artist.
The 35-year-old Andrion, who graduated from Sparks High, works at Endless Ink, which is located a couple miles away from the Nevada campus in Reno. Andrion met Kaepernick in 2007 when the former Pack quarterback walked into his shop for his first tattoo.
"I had him do one piece," Kaepernick said. "I really liked it and I've been going to him ever since."
Andrion told Yahoo Sports that, because of the publicity he's gained from Kaepernick's rise to fame, his customers now have to get on a waiting list of about three months.
"I wanted my art to be on a person, not on paper," Andrion told Yahoo sports. "Every country they go to I feel like I am going with them."
And now he's going to the Super Bowl with Kaepernick.
"He's everything you want your kids to be," Andrion told Yahoo. "He's a real humble guy, quiet. He was always like that. Just a nice guy."
Kaepernick also brings attention to his tattoos by "kissing" his bicep after he scores a touchdown, an act of celebration he has trademarked as "Kaepernicking."
"It's kind of my way of saying I don't really care what people think of my tattoos," he said.
His tattoos, he said, are his way of honoring his faith in God.
"God has brought me this far," Kaepernick said. "He laid out a phenomenal path for me and I can do nothing but thank him."
Kaepernick already has a new tattoo in mind.
"He (Andrion) knows I'm coming," Kaepernick said.
