49ers Take Odd Spin on Quarterback Controversy Tony Avelar/Associated Press In his first career start, Colin Kaepernick may have taken the starting quarterback spot from Alex Smith, who had gone 6-2. SAN FRANCISCO - As with grief and romance, a good quarterback controversy has at least five stages. They often emerge over many weeks and months - sometimes years, as in the case of Joe Montana and Steve Young here two decades ago. Hope. Infatuation. Acceptance. Realization. Uncertainty. The 49ers did something remarkably efficient and fan-friendly this past week. They squeezed the five stages into five days. Coach Jim Harbaugh took a steady Super Bowl contender with a 7-2-1 record and considered, publicly and repeatedly, the implausible: whether the team would be better off with a quarterback who had one career start rather than the quarterback who had a 19-5-1 regular-season record as Harbaugh's starter. He dared to call it "the opposite of a controversy," which is like saying inflammable is the opposite of flammable. Among the antonyms for "controversy" are peace and quiet. There was none of that as the 49ers prepared to play the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday. There was only a sense that something unusual was happening. Monday: Hope The 49ers always hoped that Colin Kaepernick could someday become their starting quarterback. Teams do not draft quarterbacks in the second round, as San Francisco did with Kaepernick in 2011, without such intentions. But someday would have to wait because Harbaugh rescued Alex Smith's career. Smith was drafted first over all in 2005. His inconsistencies and inadequacies, attributed partly to playing for six offensive coordinators in his first six seasons, routinely sent him to the bench for the likes of Tim Rattay, J. T. O'Sullivan, Ken Dorsey and Troy Smith. Under Harbaugh last season, though, Alex Smith quarterbacked the 49ers to an unexpected 13-3 record and a narrow loss in the conference championship game. Smith received little credit. He was considered the team's weakest link. He was appreciated for his resilience but unloved for his inability to be Montana or Young, or even Jeff Garcia. This season, Smith, 28, was having his best year. He led the N.F.L. in completion percentage. He made few mistakes. His team was 6-2. But a concussion knocked him out of a game two weeks ago. It kept him from starting last Monday night against the Chicago Bears. Enter Kaepernick. He had 31 career pass attempts. He was intriguingly raw. Fans hoped the 49ers could escape with a low-scoring victory against one of the league's better teams. Then Kaepernick completed 12 of his first 14 passes. The 49ers scored on their first four possessions. They dismantled Chicago, 32-7. Kaepernick threw with a zip and carried himself with a swagger that Smith never displayed. To fans accustomed to Smith's drab efficiency, it was a revelation, like falling asleep in a black-and-white world and awakening to full color. By halftime, the talk online was whether Kaepernick should be the full-time starter - an implausible suggestion 90 minutes earlier. After the game, tight end Vernon Davis giddily praised Kaepernick and compared him to Tom Brady. Harbaugh was asked if Smith and Kaepernick were competing for the starting job. The answer might have been expected to be no, because of the 49ers" record and the axiom that a player should not lose his job to injury. "We've got two quarterbacks that have a hot hand," Harbaugh said. And we'll make the decision when we have to make it. Tuesday: Infatuation The Bay Area buzzed. Titillated fans swooned. If bandwagons were more than metaphors, Kaepernick's would have collapsed under the weight. People who could not pronounce his name a day earlier took to calling him Kap. They figured out that his hometown, Turlock, is about two hours from San Francisco, in California's Central Valley. They learned that Kaepernick was born in Wisconsin and that his father worked for a cheese company. Early adopters rushed to buy his No. 7 jersey. They chatted on airwaves and Internet boards. They followed @Kaepernick7 on Twitter, where his profile reads, "Trying to be #1 in a world that accepts #2."