great read:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10167966/the-career-tony-gonzalez

Quote:

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After a 4-0 start in Mariucci's first season, Cal traveled to Los Angeles in early October to play 17th-ranked USC. It had been 26 years since the Golden Bears had won at the Coliseum, but in the team hotel the night before the game, Mariucci told his team that's where the streak would end. "I was giving them reasons we were going to win that game," says Mariucci, "and one of the reasons was, 'Tony Gonzalez, there's nobody on the field as good as you. You're the best man on the field tomorrow.' And he proved me right."

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I still remember the DailyCal headline after our victory against the trojans.


"Why Not Us, Why Not Now!"


That was so awesome, but then Pat Barnes fumble at the 1yd line against Cougs in Pullman to lose the game killed our momentum and we barely made the bowl game that year.

Of course we got spanked by Navy at the Aloha Bowl.

"Leigh says to me, 'Congratulations, Carl, you've drafted an extraordinary athlete here. But you know, Tony Gonzalez can also play pro basketball, so you're going to have to pay him more than the 12th pick in the draft based on last year's numbers."

Playing in the NBA at 6'5 with no handles and no 3 point shot is an interesting concept . Hall of Fame football player, however.

bearister;842250458 said:

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"Leigh says to me, 'Congratulations, Carl, you've drafted an extraordinary athlete here. But you know, Tony Gonzalez can also play pro basketball, so you're going to have to pay him more than the 12th pick in the draft based on last year's numbers."

Playing in the NBA at 6'5 with no handles and no 3 point shot is an interesting concept . Hall of Fame football player, however.

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If only he had made two FT's against Alabama in the Cable Car, the Bears would have had a major upset. The Tide featured Antonio McDyess.

bearister;842250458 said:

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"Leigh says to me, 'Congratulations, Carl, you've drafted an extraordinary athlete here. But you know, Tony Gonzalez can also play pro basketball, so you're going to have to pay him more than the 12th pick in the draft based on last year's numbers."

Playing in the NBA at 6'5 with no handles and no 3 point shot is an interesting concept . Hall of Fame football player, however.

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You're leaving out the other shoe though -- that Steinberg's negotiating ploy was revealed when a discussion with Bulls GM Jerry Krause confirmed that Gonzalez was not an NBA-level hoops player.

I'm not sure if I knew the story of Gonzalez's name and that he's not Latino.

Was it Barnes's fault or Brandon Willis's fault, or a combination? All I remember, in my frost-bitten state, was that the ball popped out on the exchange between the two of them.

We covered thanks to wsu taking a safety on purpose! Also made mooch bailing on us a little more bearable as a guy who finishes his first season 1-6 getting an nfl contract was laughable.

Leigh wasn't the only one to overstate Tony G's basketball skills. He was a good, not great, college player.

GBMARIN;842250487 said:

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If only he had made two FT's against Alabama in the Cable Car, the Bears would have had a major upset. The Tide featured Antonio McDyess.

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Have to tell my Gonzalez story again. At the following fan day for the football team, LF jr (who's ten at the time) asks Tony to sign his hat, which he proceeds to do. While he's signing, jr asks him, "Why'd you have to miss those FT's?" I'm expecting the worst, but Gonzalez just grinned, patted jr on the head and said he should have made them. Everything I've read about him has been consistent with that interaction.

Very good read.

Interesting tidbit not mentioned: he actually was not that interested in Cal due to football but ended up circling back when the basketball program started pursuing him. Though he planned to play both sports, basketball essentially sealed the deal for him. The coaches agreed football would give the scholarship and he would not come to hoops until football season was done. Billy Kennedy (now the head coach at Texas A&M was his main basketball recruiter). Not a bad basketball walk-on I'd say.

59bear;842250622 said:

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Leigh wasn't the only one to overstate Tony G's basketball skills. He was a good, not great, college player.

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He basically had the footballer's healthy disrespect for the average basketball player's lack of physicality and low pain threshold (compared to a football player). He simply pushed people around inside and had his way. At 6'5 that would not have worked at the next level. He was a very effective college basketball player. We could use him now.

We checked out his pad in Huntington Beach when he put it on the market a few years ago. I just had to see how it looked. Damn nice place with beach views.

I have photos of Tony G with my oldest daughter when she was 1 1/2 at the pre-season event. She was in a Cal cheerleader dress and he was gracious and kind and really enjoyed interacting with her - and other kids. I think I even have Tony G's "football card' which were handed out at the event. I never looked to see if it has any value other than sentimental.

As for that Alabama game....I thought Tony G. only shot one free throw, because he made the basket to tie the game. He has one shot to win the game. But, then, I was walking on the concourse with that same daughter in my arms, because she was two months old and was crying a bit too much for us to keep her around people without disturbing them (I thought she was crying because Cal wasn't doing so well - but when we went to the Concourse, the team and she both started doing better, so we stayed out there and watched on the monitors).

I don't have a link, but Pat Riley said recently that he thought Tony could have been a 10-year NBA player based on his defense and rebounding.

bearister;842250458 said:

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Playing in the NBA at 6'5 with no handles and no 3 point shot is an interesting concept . Hall of Fame football player, however.

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6' 3 1/2" per the NFL draft day site.

As the basketball team was heading to the Tournament where they would eventually go to the Sweet Sixteen, Gonzalez was asked if he didn't think it was foolish to risk his upcoming obvious high NFL draft pick and lots of money
to play a few more basketball games in which he might be injured. Can't remember the exact quote but it was something to the effect of how much fun he was having, the fact that the chance wouldn't come again, and if you lived your life being afraid of injury you'd have a pretty boring life. It was the perfect answer. Does anyone have the exact quote? I know he also said that basketball was really his favorite sport.

bearister;842250659 said:

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He basically had the footballer's healthy disrespect for the average basketball player's lack of physicality and low pain threshold (compared to a football player). He simply pushed people around inside and had his way. At 6'5 that would not have worked at the next level. He was a very effective college basketball player. We could use him now.

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Charles Barkley was only 6'4" (though his "official" height was listed as 6'6"). I think Barkley had better handles than ToGo, though. Still, handles can be taught/learned (similarly 3-point shooting is can also be an acquired skillset). ToGo's toughness, however--that's a natural gift.

Sadly, I didn't get to see ToGo at Cal--he got drafted 4 months before I arrived on campus.

On an unrelated tangent, I ran into one of ToGo's former Cal teammates, Ben Lynch, on a plane, once. He stopped me when he saw my Cal martial arts bag. We chatted briefly (I was headed down the aisle to find a seat); he was on the way to an interview in Houston. He was a super nice guy. Does anyone know what happened to him? I always hoped he would catch on somewhere after running into him.

"ToGo" makes me sad.

Bobodeluxe;842251844 said:

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"ToGo" makes me sad.

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Why's that?

Sir Charles was an NBA MVP and an 11 time All Star. A complete freak of nature.

01Bear;842251857 said:

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Why's that?

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Sandwich.

Great photos HoopDreams