"Traditionally played at home against USC in odd years and UCLA in even years, it was collateral damage from the sudden collapse of the Pac-12 Conference, which resulted in the L.A. schools being in the Big Ten and Cal last year moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was too late to reschedule the game last year or this one, but the game will return next year when the Bears play UCLA at home on Sept. 5."
""The sky was the limit for him," his head coach, Mike White, told me. "He definitely would have been the first quarterback taken in the NFL draft. He had all the skills, plus a great work ethic, but, most important, he had the temperament. The only other quarterbacks I've ever seen with a temperament like that were Joe Montana and Tom Brady.""
"He was a devout Catholic who took his faith's teachings seriously, so he treated everyone with kindness and respect. Although he was the team's star, he was always the first one to take newcomers under his wing and make them feel like they were part of the team. In that early post-Title IX era, when female athletes often were greeted with mockery by their male counterparts, they found a compassionate ally in Joe."
The Joe Roth Memorial Game will return next year when Cal hosts UCLA on Sept. 5, restoring the tradition disrupted by the sudden Pac-12 collapse that moved the L.A. schools to the Big Ten and Cal to the ACC. The game traditionally alternated home matchups with USC and UCLA and could resume as the first home game each season. Joe Roth was a mid-1970s Cal quarterback beloved for character as well as talent. Coach Mike White praised Roth’s skills, work ethic and rare temperament. Roth’s devout faith, kindness to teammates and support for female athletes made him a compassionate ally.
Read at The Mercury News
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