Golden Nuggets: Richard Rodgers Making His Own Name In Green Bay

Women's Soccer

The Bears Are Back In Camp

BERKELEY - The first Golden Bear team to officially hit the ground running for the 2015 season was Neil McGuire's women's soccer squad that hit Witter Field Wednesday morning and afternoon to begin working towards a 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

With Tuesday's Media Day behind the them, the 27-member team hit the pitch in their new training gear Wednesday in what senior Samantha Witteman dubbed a strong start that coincides with the succesful spring season that the team had.

"It went really well," Witteman said after the first two-a-day session of the preseason. "It was great being back with the team. It's a good place to start, and we'll just keep building."

Baseball

Check out part 3 of our very own Nik Jam's sitdown with College Baseball Central.

Men's Tennis

Longtime head coach Peter Wright and assistent coach Wayne Ferreira were inducted into the USTA Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame.

Swimming & Diving

Nathan Adrian swam like a man with something to prove.

After a rough season in which he reportedly battled shoulder issues and a disappointing 7th place finish in the finals of the 100 free two days ago, Adrian dropped the hammer in the semi-finals of the 50 free this evening.

Adrian's time of 21.37 broke Cullen Jones's American Record time of 21.40

, set in the semi-finals of the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, during the supersuited era.

In the post-race interview, Adrian said that he was feeling good today, and decided to "go for it."

KAZAN, Russia - With Missy Franklin swimming leadoff and Katie McLaughlin on the third leg, the United States won the gold medal in the women's 4x200-meter free relay at the FINA World Championships Thursday, putting a pair of Golden Bears atop the victory stand.

Franklin opened the race with a split of 1:55.95, which put the Americans in second place after 200 meters. After Leah Smith's leg, McLaughlin kept the U.S. second behind Sweden three-fourths of the way through the event. With Katie Ladecky as the anchor, the Americans cruised to victory in 7:45.37 as Sweden faded to fourth. Italy earned the silver in 7:48.41 and China took the bronze in 7:49.10.

Women's Golf

BERKELEY - California's Marthe Wold added another offseason victory for the Golden Bears women's golfers after the sophomore claimed individual medalist honors at the Norwegian Individual Championships (Norgesmesterskapet) held at the Borre Golfklubb in Horten, Norway.

Football

Friday Five: Teams with the most difficult schedules in the country

4. California: I think the Golden Bears could be one of those "hipster" teams this season, as a lot of college football aficionados will try to hype them up as a team to look out for. I feel this way because I'm one of those people I just described. I have high hopes for this team, but the schedule won't do Cal any favors. It gets a tough cross-divisional draw by having to play Utah, UCLA, USC and Arizona State from the south. The Utah and UCLA games will both come on the road, as will games against Oregon, Stanford, Washington and Texas. Make no mistake, if this team is able to exceed expectations in 2015, it will have earned it.

National Football League

Who should be the next player from each team to make the Hall of Fame?

Kansas City Chiefs

Tony Gonzalez. Tight end Gonzalez should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He's the No. 1 NFL player at his position in career catches, yards and receiving touchdowns. Gonzalez is arguably the greatest player in Chiefs history. -- Adam Teicher

Richard Rodgers embodies Packers, just like other 'Rodgers' from Cal

GREEN BAY, Wis. — This is what Green Bay does. The organization finds players who go about their business the "Packer Way." They're unnoticed by others but fit right in with the cheeseheads, even if they're not necessarily needed right away.

After all, it worked out the last time the Packers drafted an overlooked guy named Rodgers out of California.

Richard Rodgers was far from a standout with the Golden Bears. He started 11 games (appeared in 35) and recorded two touchdowns in three seasons, including a switch from tight end to inside receiver before his junior year in 2013. He probably was not on your team's draft board.

But the second-year tight end is a Packer. The team knew it when it drafted him in the third round last year, and it's now clear for all to see as Green Bay prepares for 2015 in training camp. Mike McCarthy, otherwise grumpy in his post-practice demeanor Tuesday, lit up when asked about No. 89.

"I think Richard Rodgers has definitely taken a step from last year," the coach said. "He has taken a step offensively in the passing game. You think about where he was this time last year ... He's comfortable. He's catching the ball very well. He's off to a good start."

And according to Rodgers, his progression should come as no surprise.

"I just know what I'm doing out there now," he explained. "It's not really a learning process anymore. I think every second-year player has that."