By Dave Newhouse, STAFF WRITER
BERKELEY — Sometimes the decision to give up something makes you discover how much you really need it. Andrew Cameron came to that realization just in time to save his Cal football career. Last December, Cameron was done with football mentally. After three surgeries in 10 months — two shoulders, one knee — and with his Cal offensive line buddies completing their eligibility, he felt it was the right time to walk away. His plan was to graduate in the spring and then enter the business world with a Donald Trump-like zeal. But when spring came around, he found himself thinking about the fall. "I realized that I had invested so much time in football," he said, "that there was no closure to my career."
So the first week of May, he met with Jeff Tedford, informing the Cal coach of his desire to play his last year of eligibility. Once Tedford was assured Cameron was serious, the coach welcomed Cameron back. "I have a new perspective," Cameron said. "I realize what football means to me. It's an outlet for my soul." Cameron's goal is to start at left tackle for the third consecutive season. And with Cal thinking Rose Bowl, more seriously than usual, he didn't want to miss out on that opportunity.
"The whole team has the expectation of winning (the Pac-10) this year," he said. "I look at our first game (Sept.2 at Tennessee) as a national championship (environment) with two top-10 teams." Cal is ranked eighth in two preseason polls. But what happened to all those reasons that had Cameron ready to become an Old Blue at 23? Well, his shoulders mended before the 2005 season. And his right knee, which had ACL surgery last fall, is 80 percent healed, and he expects it to be 100 percent after some intense personal training this summer. As for the loss of offensive line pals Marvin Philip, Andrew Merz and Ryan O'Callaghan, all NFL draftees, Cameron now thinks it will be fun to "build a new identity" with this year's line.
And Cameron's business career, filled with big ideas, is on hold — for he's now considering the NFL. Talk about a reversal! "I'm probably more focused than I've ever been," he said of football. "The (knee) injury has been the best thing for me. I wasn't as focused last year." Scott Smith started eight games at left tackle in 2005 as Cameron sat out two games with a concussion before injuring the knee Oct.1 against Arizona while setting up to block. Smith, now a senior, was moved to right tackle in the spring as sophomore Mike Tepper took over at left tackle. There may be more shuffling with Cameron's return. "If he didn't feel he could come back and be Andrew Cameron, he wouldn't do it," Tedford said. "He feels he can do that, and I have trust that he can." The 6-foot-5 Cameron, from Healdsburg, will be significantly lighter this season, dropping from 330 pounds — his Cal high two years ago — to 291 currently. He hopes to play at 300 by the opener in Knoxville. "Coach (Jim) Michalczik said I look trim and fit," he said of Cal's O-line coach. "I don't want to sit on the sideline or be a motivational speaker. I want to lead with my helmet. "I miss hurting people." He has provided himself another opportunity to inflict pain.
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