So a couple of weekends ago was the NFL draft. Or was it last weekend. I’m too lazy to check.
For the first time in a few years, Cal didn’t have a player taken in the first round. That said, 6 players were drafted, most of any Pac-12 school. That’s pretty awesome! The biggest surprise of Cal’s draft was maybe the biggest surprise of the entire draft. Cal punter Bryan Anger was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the THIRD ROUND. For those of you who don’t know about such things, this was generally considered to be ridiculous. Most would say that even if he turns out to be the greatest NFL kicker ever – and he is good – it still was way too early. Kickers usually aren’t drafted. Usually they’re picked up after the draft as a free agent. Occasionally, they’re drafted in the 5th-7th rounds. So time will tell if Anger does well in the NFL. He certainly was a bright spot for the Golden Bears, and I’m super excited for him.
But with the draft, over I got thinking about how many players does Cal have in the NFL? There are some great ones out there. Aaron Rogers and Tony Gonzalez come to mind. Well now that teams are more or less done signing college free agents, I decided to take a gander. There are 37 California alumni in the NFL. That number includes the fresh draftees and free agents (statistically, the free agents might not stay long). Here’s the list.