Robertson’s return gives Cal speed, excitement
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox believes his players are bigger and stronger than they were at the end of last season. He knows they’re faster. After missing the final 10 games last season and being granted a medical redshirt, Demetris Robertson will be a full participant when the Bears take to the spring practice field Wednesday. Just before the session started, the sophomore receiver ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash during team testing to lead 11 players who ran sub-4.6s.
“Oh man, speed kills. Talk about a deep threat,” junior quarterback Ross Bowers said about having Robertson back on the field. “It’s definitely going to help our vertical passing game, that’s for sure.
“It’s great, not just for touchdowns and completions, but also because of what a great guy he is to have around the team. It’s huge for us.”
Nobody knew that while Robertson was setting the school’s freshman marks in catches (50) and receiving yards (767) in 2016 he was dealing with severe pain in his upper thigh and hips. After two games in 2017, during which the speedster scored on a 34-yard run and 33-yard catch, he knew he couldn’t keep pushing through the pain.
Robertson was diagnosed with a sports hernia, which was causing a virtual tug of war between his adductor and abdominal muscles every time he accelerated or made a cut.
After surgery to release his adductor longus tendon off the bone and carefully reattach it to the muscle, Robertson set out on an arduous three-month rehab.
“It was hard, tough and sometimes lonely,” he said. “You just come in every day for rehab and do what you have to do every day. You watch your teammates compete every day, and you want to be out there playing football and helping them.”
Cal’s receivers fared well without Robertson: Vic Wharton III and Kanawai Noa racked up 123 catches, good enough for No. 3 among all returning FBS teammates. But there’s no replacing Robertson’s ability to stretch the field.
The 6-foot, 185-pounder was the 2016 Georgia state high school champion in the 100 (10.51 seconds) and 200 meters (21.42) and anchored Savannah Christian Prep’s winning 1,600-meter relay team. Just for fun, he finished second in the long jump (23 feet, 4.5 inches).
In his first season at Cal, he had 11 plays of at least 20 yards and accounted for five of the team’s seven longest plays.
“A lot of Demetris is long speed,” offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin said. “He can get going, and obviously, you see that with what he does from a track standpoint, but he also carries that out onto the football field. He has a lot of that long speed, and he’s still working on some of his short-area quickness.
“Sometimes with guys who have that much speed it takes a little bit of time, but man, he can be scary in terms of what he can do running by you and if he gets the ball in his hands.”
Maybe Robertson should have run his pre-spring 40yard dash with a ball in his hands, but he wouldn’t have accepted praise for his 4.35second run.
“We’re getting there,” Robertson said, “but I’m not happy yet.”