Cal Football: Greatest Golden Bears in School History

The California Golden Bears football program has been around since 1886 and has made two of college footballs strangest plays.

They are the Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels' fumble recovery in the 1929 Rose Bowl, and "The Play" winning kickoff return after five laterals.

Through this long history, the Bears have produced numerous amounts of great players. Here, I will list 10 of the best.

White is the Golden Bears' career rushing leader—with 3,367 yards over three seasons—and remains the only Cal player to rush for at least 1,000 yards each year over the same period of time.

On September 15, 1990—the first time that White ever touched a football in Memorial Stadium—he returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.

Throughout his career, his 5.1 yards per carry average lead him to being the leading rusher for the Golden Bears.

White, who also has the most career touchdowns with 35, graduated from Cal with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare, and was drafted in the third round (73^rd overall) by the Los Angeles Rams.

With over 100 scholarships offered to Bartkowski, he chose the Golden Bears and became their starting quarterback from 1972 to 1974.

In his senior season, he was an obvious choice to be an All-American selection.

In 1975, Bartkowski was the number one draft pick taken by Atlanta, and was their starting quarterback for the next 11 seasons.

For three years, he was the highest rated quarterback, earned All-Pro honors in 1980 and 1981, and holds almost all of the passing records for the Falcons.

Rivera has a very long history with the sport of football, from playing college with the Golden Bears, to coaching the Chicago Bears.

As an All-American linebacker in 1983, he holds the Bears' single-season record for tackles for loss (26.5), set in 1983. At one point, he was also school leader for all-time sacks and career tackles.

With the 44th pick, the Chicago Bears drafted him in the second round, and he played for them his entire eight year career.

Rivera went on to become a defensive quality coach, a linebackers coach, and a defensive coordinator, before taking over as the Carolina Panthers' head coach.

Steussie had a very impressive career with the California Golden Bears, becoming a three-time All-Pac-10 tackle.

He ended up being a first-round, 19^th overall choice for the Minnesota Vikings in the 1994 draft.

During his seven year career with the Vikings, Steussie was named to the Pro-Bowl twice.

McMillan played with the Golden Bears for only two years and he was able to make those years count in a big way.

They were 18-0-1 during his two years as an offensive tackle.

One of their most impressive wins with McMillan came in a 127-0 hammering against St. Mary's on Oct. 9, 1920.

McMillan played in the “Wonder Teams” era, during which the Golden Bears went 50 games without a loss.

White is arguably one of best NFL offensive linemen ever.

He was a four-time Pro Bowler, and was one of 10 players who participated in four different Super Bowls with the Vikings.

During his college career with the Golden Bears, he was selected as an All-American player in 1968.

When he retired from the NFL after 17 seasons and 241 games, he was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Herwig was an outstanding offensive center for the Golden Bears from 1935 to 1937.

He was one of the few players who would participate for all 60 minutes of a game, and he lead the team in minutes in both 1935 and 1937.

He was also probably Cal’s best tackler on the '37 team, allowing only five touchdowns and 33 points by opponents for an entire season.

Herwig also played basketball for the school and was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Surprisingly, White did not play high school football, but he ended up having a remarkable college career as a defensive lineman.

A starter in his first year, he was an All-Conference pick in both 1970 and 1971, and an All-American pick in '71.

When White left Cal in 1972, he was a first-round pick—and the second overall—snagged by Cincinnati Bengals.

Not bad for a player who had only been playing for three years.

Kapp was the quarterback when Cal went to the 1959 Rose Bowl.

He led them to the Pacific Coast Championship in 1958, and their most recent Rose Bowl appearance in 1959.

That year, Kapp was name an All-American player and won the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy.

He is in five different hall of fames, including the College Football Hall of Fame, California Athletic Hall of Fame, Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.

Brien was probably the best placekicker the Golden Bears have ever seen.

He holds the record for most points scored, with 288, and had field-goal accuracy at 80 percent, hitting 53 of 67 and making a monster 116 of 119 attempted extra point attempts.

Brien was almost automatic in  college and graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Economy of Industrial Societies.

Drafted by the San Francisco 49ers—with the 85^th overall pick in the third round—Brien set the single season record for PAT’s in a single postseason, with a total of 17.