New #Packers WR Amari Rodgers will wear No. 8️⃣!#PackersDraft | @arodgers_3 pic.twitter.com/31xRZcAf6N

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) May 1, 2021

calumnus said:

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Big C said:

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calumnus said:

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Big C said:

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OaktownBear said:

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calumnus said:

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WalterSobchak said:

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Sure it's possible, maybe even likely that he leaves early even if the Niners are great and set at QB, but as BC points out that's not how things were. Don't you think it's possible AR knew the Niners were going to be bad an need a QB before and during the season? And given his fondness for the team don't you think that might have provided some extra incentive? Why do you think he made his infamous draft night statement, because he didn't care about the Niners ans wasn't hoping/expecting them to pick him? Really hard to understand your take here given what actually happened and how it did.

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Exactly. After the Holiday Bowl loss:

Cal QB Aaron Rodgers: "This is a frustrating loss, but we just didn't execute and make plays. We came up a little short. I thought we handled the pressure pretty good, I just wasn't at my best today. Every loss is tough, but I don't know think this puts a damper on things. A lot of good things happened this year that hasn't happened at Cal in awhile and I hope our fans stick with us. We'll come back next season on a mission."

https://calbears.com/news/2004/12/30/207747948

It was only a week later, when it looked like he would be the first QB taken and most likely by the 49ers fulfilling his lifelong dream, that he declared saying "The opportunity was too good to pass up."

Of course nothing was guaranteed. Smith ended up declaring early too. Leinert end up staying for his senior year at USC.

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You are reading a million times more into "we" referring to team than you should. He was speaking for the team in a postgame interview, not for his pro prospects. As opposed to Tedford specifically saying he was gone in alum meetings. He was gone. Everyone who wasn't delusional knew it. And Marshawn was gone despite Boston Market. Kidd said things heavily implying he was coming back the day he said he was gone and he hadn't been to class all semester so he couldn't come back if he wanted to. Kidd was gone. And Lebron wasn't ever ever ever coming to Cal. Maybe Dirk.

His decision to go had ZERO to do with the 49ers.

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"Lebron was coming to Cal" is one of the most untrue Cal urban legends ever. Before his junior year in HS, while playing with the Oakland Soldiers for a short while with his buddy Leon Powe he said something like "Cal might be a cool place for me to go." And for Cal fans, it took off from there...

Now, my FAVORITE untrue Cal urban legend -- and people are going to disagree, but they're wrong -- is that Russell White would've been a 1st round draft pick (and maybe even a good NFL player), if only he had turned pro after his junior year. Fact: The NFL Combine would've exposed the fact that he just wasn't enough of a "workout warrior" and he would've slipped. (Great player at Cal though and an inspiring Cal story!)

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He was on the Soldiers for more than a year and loved Berkeley. The games were at the RSF. He used to hang out on Telegraph and Durant. Most of his Soldier teammates ended up going to Cal. If the one-and-done rule was in place, odds are he goes to Cal, but with direct entry, he was going straight to the NBA, no question. He still visits campus when he is in the Bay Area.

Nowitski was closer, he had committed, but was ruled ineligible by the NCAA, Braun hired attorneys to fight it, then Nowitsky played in a game against US high school all stars......

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If you have the info, I would be curious how long Lebron was actually here in the East Bay playing for the Oakland Soldiers. If it was "more than a year", does that mean like three weeks in July of 1999 and two weeks in August of 2000? Because I strongly suspect it was something like that.* I'm pretty sure that by halfway through his junior year of high school, it was either going to be a MAJOR college program (not Cal), or straight to the NBA. By then, he had become sort of a big deal. Like Jason Kidd was here in high school, except greater than that... by multiples.


* Just as an example, on his Wikipedia page it mentions him playing for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars (AAU team), but gives nary a mention to the Oakland Soldiers. My recollection (admittedly spotty) was that he met Powe at some sort of national camp and then was recruited to make a guest appearance or two out here with the Oakland Soldiers. (By "guest appearance", I mean like a couple of weeks, something like that.)

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LeBron's high school coach is one of Braun's best friends and was Braun's first assistant at Eastern Michigan. Because of that connection Braun was recruiting LeBron before anyone, when LeBron was a skinny PG.

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2005/12/03/how-lebron-could-have-been-golden-bear/

LeBron spent three summers with the Soldiers starting at age 15.

Look at LeBron's Soldiers teams: LeBron, Powe, Ubaka, Kately, McGuire.....the intent to all play together at Cal was real. LeBron just blew up and was headed to the NBA. Powe would have too if he hadnt blown out his knee his senior year. On the other hand, if the one and done rule was in effect...

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