Part I

After meeting the white Joe Montana himself, Kevin Riley, star of Jesus In Cleats II:  The Cleatening, we headed over to the defense table.  They had two big tables next to each other, defense and offense.  We went with defense first.  And you know, for being raging sons of bitches out there on the field, they are incredibly nice in person.

When I got over to Follett, all these friends of his were crowding around and they were having this odd conversation.  Something about how Follett had put $270 into a wallet and then somebody took it.  I was a bit confused as to exactly what was happening, but they were all laughing their asses off and Follett looked incredibly concerned.  Then, he laughed.  Hopefully, he didn't lose any money.

Last year, Follett was rocking the Tigerscalp.  I was hoping for the same this year.  Alas!

Felder was incredibly nice and has sweet tattoos.

This is Rulon, right?  His arms are MASSIVE!  I challenged him to an arm wrestling contest, but he, of course, backed off.  I knew I intimidated him with my 140 pounds of sweet Jewish fury!  If he can JUST stay healthy this year, I really feel like our D is going to be great.  He's had some health problems in the past, so that "if" is a big one. 

SydQuan was there with his daughter.  I asked her name, but didn't quite catch it.  Something like Sydnasia.  I've probably got that wrong, though.  She's a cutie!

SydQuan seems like an incredibly shy person.  I've only met him at this FanFest and last year's FanFest, but he rarely seems to speak.  I think he has the potential to be one of the best DBs in Cal history.  I know that at Tennessee 06, he received a LOT of heat.  I can't imagine it's easy being a freshman (redshirt or true), being put out there, and your first game is at Rocky Top.  But he overcame his challenges and his trial by fire will make him a stronger player.  He didn't give up then and he'll be a better DB for it.  He might not be as chatty as Follett or others, but by the time he finishes with the team after next year's season, I think he is going to have had an amazing career!

At this point, we started to pick off some of the other players wandering around without tables.  Devin Bishop was there, so he signed my hat.  As I noted in the last installment, people were signing his cast.  I'm not sure what his status is with the cast.  I told him the cast was great, because he could just punch the WRs in the face. 

Then, we got Michael Calvin's signature.  He has a lot of hype surrounding him.  Here's hoping that he can prove us correct and have a big year.  He's definitely got the hair for it!

Then, we went over to get into the running backs line.  Jahvid for President!  Actually, this baby started to cry like 1 second after I got this photo.

I can't tell whether Jahvid is trying to rock a faux-hawk here or not.  My interactions with Jahvid went poorly.  He attempted to sign my hat with the pen cap on.  Not an auspicious start.  So, I told him that he was doing it wrong and he could believe me, because I am "an All-American in pen."  It was a mediocre bit, to be honest.  I tried to come around the table to take a sweet photo with him, but there was a huge throng of kids right around the table.  I had trouble getting through them, so I was throwing elbows and stiff-arming them Marshawn-style to get them out of the way.  Basically, I'm going to need a lawyer.  And a good one, at that.  Which precludes me!

By the time I got back there, he was signing other stuff, so I felt like I was slowing him down and wasting his time.  His thousand dollar smile and index finger thrung triumphantly into the air say otherwise.  But still.

Here is Slocum:

That's Brian Holley, a fullback, drinking out of the cup there.  He was very funny.  I asked him how he liked the jerseys and he asked me back.  When I expressed concern that my jersey was already out of date, he started saying how I had the "throwback."  I hope he has a great season.

Then, we snagged Trevor Guyton, a DT.  This guy is a freshman and had no name on his jersey, so I honestly didn't know who he is.  He's big.  Real big.

So, the future looks bright at DT there!

Getting the Defense and RBs was a next great step after Tedford and Riley.  Up next in Part III, the Offense!  I don't want to give away any spoilers, but this section includes a special guest appearance by Patrick "Mini-LBJ" Christopher!  Go Bears!