Colin Kaepernick, Kerri Walsh Jennings slated for ESPN ‘Body Issue’

NFC champion quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Olympic gold medalist and new mom Kerri Walsh Jennings and 77-year-old golfer Gary Player are among the 21 athletes who will appear wearing as little as possible -- if anything at all -- in this year’s edition of ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue.”

It’s become a tradition for elite athletes to show off their physiques in the annual issue, but this year there are a few twists. Walsh Jennings will appear in photos shot both before and after the birth of daughter Scout in April, while Player is the oldest person to appear.

Editor-in-chief Chad Milliman said the athletes are “proud of the work they put into being strong and powerful and we’re proud that they trust us to capture that.”

Kaepernick, whose San Francisco 49ers teammate Vernon Davis is also in the issue, said he’s looking forward to revealing even more of his famous body art.

“Being selected by ESPN The Magazine for the Body Issue is an incredible honor,” Kaepernick said. “Thank you for believing in me, my 49ers family and my INK!”

Others who have elected to bare it all for the magazine include NHRA Funny Car driver Courtney Force, the NBA’s John Wall and Kenneth Faried, MLB’s Matt Harvey and Giancarlo Stanton, the WNBA’s Swin Cash, the NHL’s Joffrey Lupul, tennis players Agnieszka Radwanska and John Isner, UFC’s Miesha Tate, soccer player Sydney Leroux, golfer Carly Booth, snowboarder Elena Hight, rock climbers Chris Sharma and Daila Ojeda, boxer Marlen Esparza and motocross rider Tara Gieger.

The fifth annual issue is set to hit newsstands July 12.

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