Cal football ties for most selections in NFL's All-Decade team
Cal once again proves to be NFL U.
The NFL released their All-Decade team and it’s got Bears, Bears, and more Bears.
With four selections, California tops the list for the school with the most representatives in a tie with the Pittsburgh Panthers. California is also the only Pac-12 school with more than one selection.
To get the bad news out of the way first, California didn’t place any specialists, including Bryan Anger or DeSean Jackson.
But there are three former Golden Bears on offense! Coincidentally, all three Bears were on the 2004 team (although one was redshirting).
Under center and leading the team is Aaron Rodgers, the NFL’s current leader for passer rating in the regular season and the man with the best touchdown-to-interception ratio ever. Rodgers played in the blue and gold for two seasons (2003 and 2004), where he helped lead the Bears to an upset over the USC Trojans and set records for his ability to protect the football.
He would be receiving snaps from the All-Decade’s Alex Mack at center. Mack is a six-time Pro Bowler and has thrice been named to the All-Pro second team. With the Bears (2004–2008), Mack won the Draddy Award (the academic Heisman) and earned all-conference and All-American honors.
Joining Rodgers in the backfield would be the legendary Beast Mode. Marshawn Lynch is a Super Bowl champion, a five-time Pro Bowler, a two-time All-Pro, and a Skittles aficionado. In his three years at Berkeley (2004–2006), Lynch was the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and earned All-American recognition while becoming a fan favorite.
Defensively, the Golden Bears are represented by the edge-rushing extraordinaire Cameron Jordan.
The five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro spent four years with California (2007–2010) where he played in 50 of 51 games and was named to the All-Pac-10 team and honorable mention as All-American.
Congratulations to these four Bears for exemplary careers at the top of their industry. Those Tedford-era Cal teams prove their greatness with this recognition by leading the nation and absolutely dwarfing all other Pac-12 programs. Let’s hope to see more Bears make the All-2020s team.
Roll On You Bears!