How popular is 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick?

Friday evening he was signing autographs at a Safeway store in Danville and it was completely overrun by more than a thousand fans.

Some of them started lining up at 8 a.m. Friday morning and he wasn't set to appear until 4 p.m.

Kaepernick could have used some blockers as he tried to get out of the  Safeway store.

He signed photographs of his signature kiss of his right biceps.

Fans jammed the aisles after they heard he was finished with autographs and making his run.

"To me, it's just part of the job now," Kaepernick said. "What you give back to the fans that support you."

For 90 minutes, he appeared cool under pressure and unrushed.

Fans thanked him for the Super Bowl run, asked about workouts and whether he was ready for next season.    

"It does come fast," he said. "You have to do everything you can to make sure you're prepared for what's going to come next. So you can't worry about what happened last season."

Kaepernick called his own plays Friday, even as his handlers tried to hurry the line.

"This is what we work out for, so we can sign for a long time," he laughed.

He had a hug for a high school classmate, her dad was his fourth grade teacher.

"Turlock is going crazy still. I don't think it will ever tone down," said Lyndsay Sutterly, high school classmate. "It's very exciting."

And it was exciting for Danville, where the line to see Kaepernick stretched all the way around the Safeway store.  Many left empty-handed except for the shots they could snag on their phones. 

"It's a little bit crazy, the support people have," said Kaepernick as he left. "Hopefully we can keep it going, making them happy."

Kaepernick tweeted about his appearance which only added to the frenzy.