In a curious twist of Tedfordian fate, half of the starting running backs left in the 2015 NFL Playoffs are former Cal Golden Bears. Perhaps we should call California "RBU." Or something more clever.
Whatever the name, it's impressive to have four former tailbacks starting games in the playoffs. Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett, C.J. Anderson and Shane Vereen are about as eclectic as it gets too.
Beast Mode: Lynch is by far the most impressive of all the backs in this group. He had the best career at Cal (490 carries, 3,230 yards, 29 touchdowns), was taken in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Bills, blew up his rookie season and really took off as a feature back when the Seahawks traded for him in the middle of the 2010 season. He's averaged 1,339 yards per season as a full-time Seahawk.
But perhaps his greatest highlight as a Golden Bear was taking the injury cart for a ride around the field.
While there he was teammates with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and another current NFL running back too.
Forsett: The Ravens breakout star this year was Lynch's backup for most of his career before stepping in as a senior and carrying the ball 305 times for 1,546 yards and 15 touchdowns. Beasty! He would later be drafted in the 7th round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Seahawks. He and Lynch are actually good friends, considered Cal's "Odd Couple" at the time (a good read there from Danny O'Neill) and I swear I've heard rumors about Lynch purposely faking injuries to ensure Forsett would get carries at Cal. But maybe I'm crazy.
Forsett is the kind of guy you do that for though. Every teammate he's ever had has praised him as the ultimate nice guy. He grinded his way through six mostly unproductive seasons, dismissed as too short and too small to be a feature back. A surprising series circumstances led to his breakout season with the Ravens this year: Gary Kubiak joining Baltimore (scheme fit), Ray Rice was kicked off the team and Bernard Pierce/Lorenzo Taliaferro were ineffective and/or injured. Enter Forsett, who's exploded for 1,266 yards and 8 touchdowns in Kubiak's zone-running scheme.
FUN FACT: He helped start a company called Shower Pill which produces a hygienic athletic wipe.
Vereen: The successor for Lynch and Forsett was the current Patriots starter, who's taken over after an injury to Stevan Ridley, is just one of many weapons Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels deploy out of the backfield. He's not even the leading rusher on the season (Jonas Gray!) but he does have the most starts of any running back (6) and was the second-highest drafted Cal back out of this group, taken by the Pats in the 2nd round of the 2011 NFL Draft.
As if you needed more proof of Vereen's versatility, look at his career receptions (107) and receiving yards (1,023) up against his career carries (217) and rushing yards (907).
He's also got the same receiving touchdowns (7) as he does rushing touchdowns for his career.
Anderson: Some folks might not even realize Anderson went to Cal, because he came out of nowhere as an undrafted free agent to star in the Broncos rushing scheme this year. Anderson transferred to Cal from Laney College in Oakland and spent his final two years of school with the Golden Bears in 2011 and 2012.
He was picked up as a UDFA by the Broncos and after recording just 7 carries in 2013 and 17 carries in the first 9 weeks of 2014, Anderson stepped in for an injured Monte Ball and Ronnie Hillman to become one of the season's biggest surprises.
FUN FACT: He appeared on the Eye on Football Podcast THIS WEEK.
