NFL Draft: Jahvid Best will miss Cal teammates

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New York, NY - This NFL Draft update: Jahvid Best says he will miss players, coaches at Cal. This NFL Draft installment (thanks to the Inn at Irving Place, part of the Small Luxury Hotels of The World brand) comes from Wednesday's NFL Play 60 Event in Central Park.

Jahvid Best 

When this blogger arrived in New York City and to the NFL's second annual "NfL Play 60 Event" the first player sought was Cal Running Back Jahvid Best. Standing at what was the "50" yard line of the touch football playing field, Best seemed to be just taking in the busy scene of college players, media, "secret service" level security men, NFL officials, and Jillian Michaels with a calm smile, but also still trying to figure out where he was.

Best, who said he was just enjoying being in New York, briefly talked on video about what he would miss in leaving Cal for the NFL, his Oregon State injury, and the value of athletics at Cal.

The guess of where Jahvid Best may go in the 2010 NFL Draft varies. Some NFL Mock Drafts had Best going in the 1st round to the San Diego Chargers, while others had him going to the Detroit Lions in the 2nd round. While Best says he will play wherever he goes, the focus really is on leaving Cal Berkeley. Best made the decision to "go pro" after his junior year last season.

"I'm gonna miss my relationships with my players and coaches. My running back group, I love those guys. It's gonna be hard leavin' em. And also my running backs coach (Cal Assistant Head Coach / Running Backs, Ron Gould). He's one of the best coaches I've had my whole life. He's like a father figure to me. But that's what I'm gonna miss the most."

The Oregon State game was the pivotal step in Jahvid Best' college career. The Cal star jumped over would-be Oregon State defenders and to the Beavers' end zone, but while he was in the air was pushed by an OSU defender. Jahvid Best turned in the air and fell on his neck and head in the end zone. He froze motionless and was taken off the field on a stretcher, having suffered a concussion.

But if Best had just scored and got up, would we be standing at the NFL Play 60 event talking? "Honestly, when you get a concussion it kind of blocks your memory a bit. So at that point I was just sit and coming back to, and everything was kind of fuzzy. After a while, I came to and felt like I just got knocked out."

Best' best runs at Cal

Jahvid Best had so many "best runs" it's hard for him to pick out one. For this blogger, it was his rapid 75-yard-touchdown run to open the 2009 season against Maryland. For Best "there's a lot of different plays. Sometimes even a cut block would be considered one of my best plays, but there's just a lot of plays I made that could be coined 'the best play.'"

Best feels he can play in any NFL offense because Cal, under Head Coach Jeff Tedford, has ran so many different formations, from single-back to two backs, and at times no backs in the backfield. Bsst says he's prepared for whatever a team asks him to do, including playing the slot receiver position.

Regarding the current debate on the value of athletics at Cal, where some Cal professors have called for the entire athletics effort to be disbanded in the wake of California's massive budget deficit, Jahvid Best says the program "is essential. It's a two way street as far as the academics and the athletics. I mean the athletics bring a lot of money to the university, so it's a two way street. They need each other."

But what Best needed was a map and a compass, because he had no idea he was in Central Park and on a man-made area of grass that was the NFL Play 60 event until someone told him where he was. "I love New York. I didn't even know we were in Central Park until five minutes ago."

Something tells me Best isn't going to have the problem of knowing where he is again after this week.

Stay tuned and GO BEARS.