First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I am Sam Kweon, and I have just started as a Staff Writer of GoldenBearLair.com. I look forward to bonding with the fans and what they think of our Cal Bears. Now let’s get to it.
Jared Goff and Chris Harper are entering a season in which fans and experts alike are expecting great performances.
Starting with Goff, this incoming sophomore had a record-breaking freshman season. He set a single-season California Bears record with 3508 yards and 18 TD and while he is gifted with a strong and accurate arm, his physical attributes are not the only plus on his resume.
Through Goff’s ups and downs his first season, he remained relatively calm. It’s like he has short-term memory loss, and whatever happens the play before he forgets about. His mental game is tough.
“He’s not like that. He has a calm demeanor, and that goes a long way to what he has been able to accomplish” Jerry Goff, Father of Jared Goff
From a preseason story by Jeff Faraudo of the Mercury News, Goff’s dad (a Cal grad who played a few years in MLB) claimed his son was always that way.
“He’s wired completely differently than I was,” said Jerry Goff, who spent time with the Expos, Pirates and Astros organizations. “He’s able to have a short memory and have fun. There were times in my career that weren’t fun. If I wasn’t playing well, I got concerned, ‘Am I going back to Triple-A?’
“He’s not like that. He came out of the womb differently. He has a calm demeanor, and that goes a long way to what he has been able to accomplish, particularly at the position he plays.”
While Goff succeeded on the gridiron, there is a specific receiver that helped him through that process.
Chris Harper is an emerging receiver that was a bright spot on a very disappointing team. The incoming junior caught 70 balls for over 850 yards and 5 touchdowns.
He gave Jared Goff a sure receiver. Harper rarely drops the ball and when he does get his hands on it, running after the catch is also his specialty.
“The offense looks a lot more fluid as opposed to last year so I am happy with the progress that we’ve made so far in a year.” WR Chris Harper
I had a chance to interview Chris Harper so I asked him a few questions about the team.
Q: How does the offense look to you this season?
A: The offense looks a lot more fluid as opposed to last year so I am happy with the progress that we’ve made in a year.
Q: What did you think of the spring game? How did you think it went?
A: I think our spring game went pretty solid although we still have a lot more things to work on in order to become a team that wins games.
Both Goff and Harper should be able to have monster seasons. They have built a chemistry together and it will only grow.