San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has recently been alleged of sexual assault.The incident occurred while Kaepernick was hanging out with former 49ers receiver Ricardo Lockette and current receiver Quinton Patton at the former’s apartment. According to the report, an unnamed woman, whom Kaepernick had sexual relations with in the past, was also in the company of the men, and was serving them mixed drinks and shots of alcohol. The group of receivers told the woman to smoke from a device which contained marijuana before any of the men would drink what she had made. The woman began to feel lightheaded afterwards and went to a bedroom to lie down, after she had taken off her coat and jewelry. Kaepernick allegedly entered the room, began undressing the woman while kissing her and then left her completely naked in the room without having had sex. The two other receivers, Lockette and Patton, reportedly entered the room to “peek” in at the woman, but left after the woman yelled, “Where’s Colin? Get out!” The woman also reported that she could not recollect any events after the men shut the door, but woke up in a hospital bed the next day.

Kaepernick has since sent out a flurry of tweets proclaiming his innocence. He has adamantly refuted the TMZ report presenting the woman’s story and has pleaded and thanked the public for their continued faith which he “assure[s]…is not misplaced.”

The 49ers came up just short of the Super Bowl this season, losing to the eventual champions the Seattle Seahawks. Kaepernick again drew much of the praise for this season’s success, and he has been crowned as one of the rising quarterbacks that will inherit the game as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning retire in the coming years. Next season, the quarterback is scheduled to pull in a measly $974,000 when one considers the contracts of other elite quarterbacks. Either the 49ers are going to have to buck up and sign Kaepernick to a hefty deal that could average $18 million a year, or he’ll likely draw such a figure from his next team if he hits the free agent market in 2015. Kaepernick’s run-and-gun style of play is what has made him such a threat for the past two seasons in San Francisco, but one has to assume that this injury-prone style of play will make teams less willing to shell out the big bucks for someone who’s not guaranteed to stay healthy.

The investigation will likely have an impact on his contract, as teams are more aware and reactive to player’s off-field actions as recently displayed by the release of Desean Jackson and Aaron Hernandez before facts came to the surface of both situations. Public relations is an important image for commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL and each individual franchise, and while I think the incident would have huge ramifications if the allegations were true, the incident would likely cast a shadow on Kaepernick’s career even if it were false. Similarly, Kobe Bryant was accused of sexual assault early in his career and while the allegations never came to fruition in court, Kobe has been marked as a bad man in the eyes of many of the public. Clearly, however, the allegations did not impact Bryant’s contracts, as he is one of the richest athletes in the world and has had one of the most successful careers in NBA history. It is possible the young quarterback can shake this off and ocnitnue to perform at the high level at which he has been playing for the past two seasons.

Contact Quinn Daly at [email protected]