#4 Biggest OffSeason Story - Jahvid Best takes snaps during Spring Practice

"Can't touch this..."

For any Cal fan, one of last season's joys was witnessing the flashes of brilliance from true frosh Jahvid Best. By now, most people know that the highly heralded recruit had joined the program as the fastest high school athlete in the state, and was oozing of potential. And we had all the more reason to be excited from his best 34 yard gain during the Tennessee game to the long touchdown run he broke out for during the Colorado State game, running over an unsuspecting Desean Jackson in the process.

Yet it was a quiet injury during the miserable USC game that quietly transformed into one of the biggest offseason fears. When it was reported that Best had suffered a hip injury, most Cal fans won't admit that they immediately thought of this.

Yes, it was the breaketh of the hipeth that ended the short career of one of the greatest athletes of our time, Bo Jackson. So the entire Bear nation let out a collective sigh when we found out that Best wouldn't require surgery, and would only need to limp around on crutches for a few months and sit out Spring practice.

Imagine the media's surprise when they showed up on the first day of Spring Practice and found Jahvid participating in individual drills. While that didn't mean he was allowed to participate in any of the team plays, it was good to hear that he was running around.

"I was just told to come out here and go as hard as I can and see how my hip responds. After today, I feel pretty good. The only thing I felt is that I'm a little bit out of shape from not doing too much in a long time. But I felt fine." (Okanes)

I can guarantee you that Best's out of shape speed is probably faster than most on the team. Heck, Best could probably crab walk faster than I could sprint.

If the mighty Bear Nation let out a collective sigh when they found out that Best wouldn't need surgery, I'm sure a few wet themselves when they found out that Best was allowed to participate in a few team drills during the second Spring practice.

Tedford will be playing it safe and sitting Best out of any full contact drills for the rest of the spring. And for good reason. But Cal’s staking a lot of their future success in this kid, and Bear fans should be counting their blessings that Jahvid the Jet should be back in his blazing, wide receiver knocking form come fall.