Cal Receivers Put on Notice

NEW PLAYERS LEARNING THE CAL WAY
By Jay Heater
Knight Ridder
Even though Cal wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau knew he was standing in front of two tremendous athletes, he wanted to make something clear to newcomers Lavelle Hawkins and DeSean Jackson.
``I told them, `The train is going 100 mph and you have to jump on,' '' Kiesau said. ``I'm not going to put a guy on the field unless he is ready to do everything right.''
OK, maybe Coach Jeff Tedford would have slowed his express just a little to pick up these two guys, who have the ability to break a long play every time they touch the ball.
Both Hawkins, a sophomore from City College of San Francisco, and Jackson, one of the nation's most highly recruited players out of Long Beach Poly High, figure to start when Cal opens the season Sept. 3 at home against Sacramento State.
But even though they are confident in their abilities, Hawkins and Jackson have taken Kiesau's comment to heart. Whether on the field, in meetings or at home, they have been studying Jeff Tedford Football 101 every waking hour.
``DeSean is a football guy, and he just gets it,'' Kiesau said. ``It's like talking to a 30-year-old about football. Lavelle is more of a guy who has to make a mistake on the field, then the next day he fixes it. And both of them have been watching film every day for hours. It's been phenomenal.''
It's no wonder that Jackson is football savvy. His brother, Byron Jackson, played wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1992-93.
``He worked me hard,'' DeSean said. ``And a lot of what he taught me was fundamentals, things like looking the ball all the way in.''
Now, though, a lot of the work comes in the classroom.
``In high school, your route always stays the same,'' Jackson said. ``Here, you and the quarterback have to be on the same page. And with Coach Tedford's offense, if you don't make the right reads, you aren't going to play.''
Hawkins concedes that he would rather be on the field than in the classroom. His road to Cal was complicated because he had to finish his two-year associates degree in one year.
After graduating from Edison High in Stockton, Hawkins accepted a scholarship offer to Louisiana State. He got homesick, returned to the Bay Area and entered CCSF. He discovered that if he wanted to play at Cal as a sophomore in 2005, he would have to finish his associates degree. Hawkins transferred six units from LSU and took two semesters of 21 units each at CCSF. He also took six credits at Alameda Community College.``It was frustrating,'' Hawkins said. ``It got to the point where I wasn't sure if I wanted to play sports anymore. But I wasn't feeling the J.C. level and I wanted to be on a big stage.''
Now on the big stage, Hawkins is getting some attention. So is Jackson.
``They have definitely elevated the play of the guys around them,'' quarterback Nate Longshore said. ``They have the kind of talent that not everyone is blessed with.''