• Tedford understands importance of Sundberg for Bears' special teams
Cal football notebook
BERKELEY -- Cal freshman Nick Sundberg ran down the field after snapping during a recent practice and was greeted by an over-exuberant scout team player, who knocked him to the ground. Golden Bears coach Jeff Tedford, alarmed at what he had just seen, raced over to the scout team player and admonished him. "I told him not to ever do that again," Tedford said. "The guy he knocked down might just be our MVP." Although Tedford was kidding about the MVP part, he knows the value of a good long snapper. Teams that don't have one are in deep trouble. Cal didn't have one after spring practice because the guy slated to do the job, freshman Chris Janeway, blew out his knee in the spring game. That left Tedford searching for a replacement. "They saw me at the Chris Sailor kicking camp in Las Vegas," said Sundberg, who is from Phoenix. So in May, Cal threw its hat into the ring, along with Arizona State, Colorado and Washington. Sundberg, a nondescript lineman who wasn't recruited much out of North Canyon High School, suddenly was in demand. Sundberg took a look at his options and noted that ASU had a snapper who had done the job for two seasons. Colorado asked him to redshirt and told him he would have to pay for his freshman tuition. Washington told him it could pay only three years of his education. Tedford made him an offer he couldn't refuse. He told Sundberg that he would be handed a scholarship if he won the job. The recruiting process was over. "He is awesome," Tedford said. "We were very fortunate to stumble across him. It is something that you can take for granted at times, but Nick is just so precise. And he handles not only the physical part, but the mental part. He really can zip it back there." Sundberg, who is 6-foot-1, 260 pounds, appreciates the kind words from Tedford and said he made the right decision in coming to Cal. "I'm extremely excited about being here," he said. "This is such a tight-knit group of players. I didn't have that in high school."
Pushed by his high school coach, Ben Bernard, to become a long snapper, Sundberg kept practicing his specialty four times a week after his senior season ended. A guy who never thought of playing major college football or anything beyond it started to see the sky as the limit. Now he is snapping in front of crowds of 60,000 fans or more. "I love it," Sundberg said. "I love the pressure." Tedford is loving it, too, because Sundberg will be around four seasons. "It's pretty difficult to give a scholarship to a guy who is just a long snapper, unless you are in dire need," Tedford said. "Normally you try to find a linebacker or a tight end who did it in high school. But it's hard to find a great one. Nick is money. When we go into our special teams' meetings, if we see that our opponent has a long snapper who floats the ball all over the place, we will pin our ears back and go after him. Anyone who watches our long snapper knows that they are going to have a tough time trying to block a punt."
End run
Tedford said that freshman wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who has a sprained shoulder, continues to improve, and he hopes that Jackson can play Saturday against Washington State at Memorial Stadium. Tedford was not confident that sophomore Robert Jordan (collarbone) would be ready. ... Tedford said offensive tackle Ryan O'Callaghan is no longer having headaches from the concussion he suffered against Oregon State, but he added that Cal's medical staff will continue to monitor O'Callaghan closely. "It's not like a sprained ankle," Tedford said. "It's a hard injury to manage."
No comments:
Post a Comment