Super Bowl Day in the Bay: Back on Track

A detour to the South Bay

Credit: Cal Athletics

Late Monday night, it was revealed that Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson would be taking the podium at the Patriots team hotel for more media availability before heading over to visit Cal Tuesday afternoon.

The plan was for Write For California to be in the building to get more of what the Golden Bear alums had to say, but Caltrain had other ideas.

WFC then spent time with the transcripts of their press conferences before getting to talk with the NBC Sports Broadcast & Production Team at Moscone Center, who will be telling the stories about these Golden Bears and how those narratives translate on the big stage. And those stories are not lost from players to production alike.

Yesterday morning, Woodson gave credit to former Strength and Conditioning Coach Torre Becton for some of the ideology that sticks around from his time at Cal as he ascends during his time as a Patriot.

“Torre said that you don't have to say what you are when you have opportunities to show what you are. That's something that stuck with me, I'm not a guy that's going to talk a lot. I'm going to show it with the way I live and play football." - Craig Woodson

On the other side of the room, Hawkins recollected what it was like to be alongside his Uncle Jeremiah as a Golden Bear and that it really took a tryout esque decision to confirm that he would be on the defensive side of the ball in Berkeley.

Similarly on Tuesday afternoon, Current NBC Sports Analyst and former Patriots S Devin McCourty echoed how the relationship between the Cal safeties reminded him of what he used to accomplish with former Patriots S Patrick Chung.

“There’s a joy that Pat and I developed over being in New England, we bonded over the pressure. Craig and Jaylinn came from playing together in college and now being in the NFL together, you can see how much joy they have playing with each other and I think that helps you play safety because you have to be on the same page.” - Devin McCourty

McCourty also referenced the tenacity that Jaylinn and Craig have played with, noting that there were significant questions coming out of training camp about the safety duo getting that starting nod. It’s not easy to power forward with those narratives flying around, but McCourty praised Hawkins and Woodson’s ability to do so consistently.

Super Bowl 60 Play-by-Play Announcer Mike Tirico in the same vein offered thoughts on how local ties can elevate the standard of storytelling on a big time stage.

“They’ve become a good tandem and work well together, with that one year cross over as Sturdy Golden Bears. They know what they’re doing together and have clicked communication wise. Good for them to come back to the Bay to play a Super Bowl, its even sweeter.” - Mike Tirico

As more events take place in the Bay Area, Write For California will give you more deep dives into all the Cal connections shaping up throughout the week of the big game, including from some of the other franchises that house Bears like the Chiefs, Ravens, Titans and Lions among others.