by Marcas Grant
For most college football fans, the best news that came out of Saturday night had little to do with their favorite team’s on-field exploits. It had to do with the news that Cal running back Jahvid Best was as good as anyone could be after what he had gone through.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Best took one of the scariest falls you’ll ever see on a football field while scoring a touchdown against Oregon State last Saturday. The game was stopped for more than twenty minutes while paramedics attended to the motionless Best. Everyone watching at Memorial Stadium and around the country on television prayed for the best but feared the worst.
When reports came that Best had movement in all his extremities and was diagnosed with only a concussion there was a huge sigh of relief.
Then the questions began.
You see, Best had been diagnosed with a mild concussion suffered the week before against Arizona State. There had been whispers that maybe he shouldn’t have been on the field against the Beavers seven days later.
Now the word is that Best will sit out at least this week’s game against Arizona then would be evaluated for future contests.
The evaluation needs to be that his season is over.
With concussions and their after effects becoming such a major issue in all levels of football, the injury has been treated with far more seriousness in recent years. Earlier this season, Florida coach Urban Meyer took heat for seemingly rushing quarterback Tim Tebow back to the field for a key game against LSU.
Meyer’s motives were questioned. Was his desire for another national championship greater than his interest in the health of his exceptional student athlete?
What’s Jeff Tedford’s excuse? The already bowl-eligible Bears - long since out of any dark horse contention for a national title - have seen their Rose Bowl drought increased to 50 plus one. Are wins over Stanford and Washington that important?
Best is a junior. Sitting him for the rest of the season does not end his college career. If he decides that the injury is reason to leave Berkeley and dash for the NFL, so be it. That is his choice.
But as long as he is a part of the program, the decision on whether he touches the field anytime soon belongs to Jeff Tedford. And after suffering an injury that easily could have robbed him of his motor skills (and still has the potential to be problematic later in life), it’s time for Best to allow himself to recover. Players will always want to play, but Tedford has an opportunity to prove that he really is the leader of men that all coaches claim to be.
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