San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick recently had minor surgery on his left leg, an early setback for Kaepernick, who was drafted in the second round to be the quarterback of the future for the franchise.

In a prepared statement, the team said, The 49ers are aware that Colin Kaepernick underwent a procedure to address a pre-existing injury and were fully aware of the injury at the time of the draft. The 49ers have no concerns regarding his health and are confident that he will be ready for the 2011 NFL season.

The 49ers traded second, fourth, and fifth round draft picks in the 2011 NFL draft in order to move up to select Kaepernick. Following the move, fans had high hopes that Kaepernick could re-ignite the team's tradition of great quarterbacks like Joe Montana and Steve Young.

Prior to being drafted, Kaepernick was a star at Nevada, becoming the only player in NCAA history to throw for 10,000 yards and rush for 4,000 yards in his college career.

Many believe that Kaepernick was handpicked by new 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has a reputation for scouting and developing quarterbacks such as Stanford star Andrew Luck.

Harbaugh has also openly courted the return of quarterback Alex Smith to the team, perhaps as a holdover until Kaepernick fully develops as an NFL quarterback. Smith was another quarterback dubbed the future of the franchise when he was chosen by the 49ers with the first overall pick in 2005.

Although the injury does not appear to be serious, Kaepernick's first season may be threatened by another factor, namely the ongoing NFL labor dispute. Depending on the resolution of the dispute, Kaepernick will have to recover from the surgery in time to join the team for training camp in August.

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