Chris Martin gone from Cal

The news coming out today is that freshman linebacker Chris Martin is transferring from Cal. Martin, one of the jewels of the recruiting class, was expected to make an immediate impact as a hybrid DE/OLB. Martin was rated the #2 defensive end, #18 player nationally, and the #1 player in the state of Colorado. Now he’s taking his potential impact elsewhere; we don’t know where yet, but we know it won’t be in a Golden Bear uniform.


For what it’s worth, Martin showed only class when he spoke regarding his decision, saying that it didn’t have anything to do with Cal but instead with him saying, ““Rather, I feel like for me to focus and truly reach my potential I need to leave many of the distractions I have here at home in the Bay Area. I need to venture away from home and start my college career somewhere else where I don’t have those distractions.” Tedford also referenced “distractions,” saying that "I understand his concern with the continued outside distractions he’s facing, and I support Chris and his decision to transfer. I wish him and his family all the best.”His father also spoke regarding these distractions, adding, "I'll let Chris do the talking in his situation but Chris and the family thought that the distractions he left the bay area for in high school wouldn't be a problem but it became apparent after he came back that that wasn't the case and that it would likely only become more of an issue later so best to make the decision now.”

It’s odd how the reason he left his Bay Area high school, or at least the official one, was that he had “bad blood” with his high school coach. There’s no reason for that to intercede while he is at Cal, so all that we have is speculation. We shall see if more details come out.

Whatever the reasoning is, we wish Martin the best of luck wherever his college destination is, as long as it’s far, far away from Berkeley. The young man has some great potential and I would’ve loved to see him flourish in the Cal uniform. It’s disappointing, but we still would like to see Martin succeed. Go Bears!