Friday, November 17, 2006

Oakland Tribune: De Sean Chose a Path Less Taken

BERKELEY — IF DeSean Jackson had taken the expected path, following the rest of the gifted crowd to the factory down the way, he quite likely would be the town celebrity and the toast of the nation. He might have his own weekly highlights show, a special presentation shown after the mundane highlights. If only Jackson had enrolled at USC upon graduation from Long Beach Poly, he would be more famous than any 19-year-old ought to be comfortable with. Assuming he had been able to accomplish at SC what he has at Cal, Jackson would have afforded the Trojans a seamless transition from Reggie Bush. As it is, Jackson's independent streak led him 370 miles north. Despite his familiarity with SC, where he attended games and became acquainted with so many players, he opted for Cal. Where, under coach Jeff Tedford, he is delighted to be carving his own stone.  "One of the biggest reasons I came here was because of all the success coach Tedford was having with this team," Jackson said this week. "Everything is happening right. Everything is happening the way I figured it was going to happen. I'm just happy to be here with everything going the right way."  The sophomore receiver and punt returner has used this season as his own personal trampoline to collegiate greatness. Even as he shares topbilling with junior running back Marshawn Lynch, Jackson has to be the favorite to be named Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year.

"He's probably the fastest and most explosive player in the conference," Arizona coach Mike Stoops told the Tucson Citizen.

Read the entire article here.

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