By the time new Cal general manager Ron Rivera arrived as a student athlete at Cal in the fall of 1979, he was a well traveled young man, ready to settle down and establish his legacy at Cal.
"My dad was the army stationed at Fort Ord, California (as an engineer),” Rivera said. “That's where I was born. My brothers were all born in the Monterey area, in the county there and that was our home base. We always came back to it. Traveled the world with dad. I lived in Germany, Fort Lewis, Washington. Dad went to Vietnam, so we went back to Fort Ord, and then when dad came back, went to Fort Meade in Maryland, and came back to Fort Ord. Dad went to Vietnam a second time. And then when dad came back and went to Fort Bullard, Panama, where we spent three years, then came back to Fort Ord, and that's where I went to high school at Seaside High School in Monterey."
The combination of all of the family moves and Rivera’s large size made it somewhat difficult to play football for the future star so he participated whenever and however he could in football as well as other sports.
"The first time I played football was in Maryland at Fort Meade, Maryland," Rivera said. "I played on the Pee Wee group and I played for a little bit. And then when we went to Panama is where I really started to play. You know, we'd just play as a kid on the streets, but when I got to Panama is when I really got to play organized football and that went very well. And then when I came to California, I was too big to play in the leagues so I had to sit out for a couple years. And then I got in high school and then it really just kind of took off. Came back and I was playing football along with basketball and baseball and whatever else I could play."
One would think the future Cal Hall of Famer would’ve favored football as his favorite sport but it was America’s Pastime that had his heart as a developing athlete.
"It was baseball," Rivera said. "You know, I got that from my dad. One of my heroes growing up was Roberto Clemente. We were in Panama when that tragedy happened with the earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua, and then he volunteered to fly the plane over (with aid for Panamanian citizens) and unfortunately, it went down in the ocean. But I loved it. And eventually several years later, our daughter decides she wants to pitch. So I was a catcher. I actually caught my freshman year on the freshman team for a while, until I was reminded that I'm here on a football scholarship and spring ball starting in a couple weeks."
Though Rivera was recruited by Cal largely by Mike White’s staff, White departed the program before the future Bear’s arrival on campus.
"Mike White was the first one to recruit me and then Roger Theder's group was the one that brought me here," Rivera said. And then Joe Kapp was the one that I partnered with junior year. My senior year we were 5-5-1. My junior year was when we were 7-4 with The Play (in 1982). So Coach Kapp's first year was my third year.
"Joe was unique. He had a way of making his point. You know, he and I had an interesting relationship. We used to argue a lot. A lot of it, he took pride in the fact that I was Hispanic (like him). I was Latino, Mexican, and he took a lot of pride in that for me as well, which was good, but we always had our conversations, our fights, our arguments. And he taught me through lessons.
“One year, I worked a summer job at a construction company and it was hard. I mean, they set me up with a job where I'd go to work at six o'clock in the morning. I'd get done and be off the shift by 2 so I could go lift weights and then go work out. And I did that most of the summer, and came back here like three weeks before camp started so I could hang out with the guys, you know, kind of get back in the swing with everybody. And as I'm here, I'm finding out that some of the guys are making $15 an hour, $18 an hour, just working for some some folks in the area.
“So I went up to Joe and I said, I said, 'Hey, Rock over here is making $15 an hour. John over here, $18 an hour You got me this construction job making $5 an hour. What the hell?' He goes, 'Was it hard?’ I said, 'Yeah. I got up at six o'clock in the morning. Shoot, I was crushed by the end of the day, I go to bed around 9:30, 10 o'clock. Here, I'm gonna be a junior and I'm going to bed at nine o'clock in the evening, wiped out. Yeah, it was hard.’ He goes, 'You like it?' 'Not really.' I mean, like I said, Joe was hard. He goes, ‘Well, good, graduate. Graduate, get your degree.' I said, 'Oh, shit, you gave me a life lesson, coach.'
“We start talking. He said, 'Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you understood how important it was.' 'All right, I appreciate it.' So we had that kind of relationship. We really did. Joe was great for me. And, you know, I learned a lot.
“It was interesting that one of things I learned from him was how he used to take all the pressure and all the heat off of everybody. I don't know if you guys noticed it, or if any of you guys that covered him back in the day, but Joe used to get up, and he always used to take responsibility. 'Oh, we could have been better at coaching. We should have done a better job coaching.' It was just kind of interesting to watch how once we got between the white lines, and I learned, just as a head coach, I always felt this, too, is once we got between the white lines, there's not much we can do for you. But yet, Joe still took the responsibility. So later in my career, that was something I always remembered and I would get up and talk about, and just say, 'Hey, we gotta go back look at the tape and really see if we're putting them in a position to win. I mean, that was the way Joe was. He always felt like he had to take responsibility."
One of Rivera’s favorite memories on a play he was involved in at Cal came in the opening game of his senior season in 1983 against Texas A&M in College Station.
"We get the ball late in the fourth quarter," Rivera said. "We drive all the way down, we kick the field goal to take the lead. But then he took the points off the board after a penalty, and then next thing, you know, lo and behold, we fumbled. They get the ball at I guess the two yard line, or three yard line, something like that. And just as I'm getting ready to go back out on the field, Rod Marinelli calls me over and says, Hey, 'Denny wants to talk to you.' Denny Schuler was the defense coordinator. So I get on the headset with Denny, and he goes, 'I don't care what you do, make a play.' So we line up for the first play. They run a lead streak downhill. And I thought, 'Okay, good. I thought they're going to be conservative.' So I figured, okay, if I get a chance, I might shoot that gap between the tight end and the tackle. Just shoot that C gap. So as the ball is getting snapped, I start to go underneath and the tight end jumps outside to reach me. He doesn't touch me. And as I'm taking my step, I notice it's a toss, so I just pushed vertical and ran right into the running back. And, you know, I saw that play recently, and if you really ever get a chance to look at it, the running back actually fumbled, but what happened was, because he had gone to the ground, we were all so excited. We're all giving the safety signal instead of going for the ball.
“So, yeah, so that was kind of it. And then Joe, he was really unique. And I'll never forget, he has this tie and he used to write the game on the inside of the tie, and he would give it to the player of the game. So I finally got my tie from him, and he looks at me and said, 'It took a Mexican to save a Mexican. That was Joe. I mean, he took a lot of pride, and I really appreciated that."
Rivera went on to win consensus All-American honors and was selected in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft by Chicago and played all nine of his pro seasons with the Bears. Primarily an outside linebacker, he appeared in 149 games with 62 starts (including 12 postseason contests with six starts) and posted 392 tackles, 8.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, nine interceptions and 15 passes defended in his playing career before moving onto broadcasting and eventually as an NFL assistant with the Bears in 1997.
Up next: Rivera talks about his transition to the new Cal GM role after his successful NFL coaching career.
