Cal's Robertson: Speedster and Sketcher
BERKELEY, Calif. - Demitris Robertson is fast. Like, really fast. “My favorite thing to do is run,” he says. But a lot of guys have sprinters’ speed. Not many earn freshman All-America honors. And no first-year Cal player has ever had more receptions, receiving yards, or touchdown catches than Robertson last season.
“He has the knowhow, he has athleticism to what he can match those things together with his God-given ability,” observes Jordan Veasy, fellow Bears wide receiver. “That's when it meshes and comes really good for him.”
“He'll stick his nose in there, he's tough, he's a grinder,” adds offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin. “Obviously he's got physical tools, but he cares. He cares about the game. He cares about learning the game. He cares about his teammates. So those are the things that people don't see.”
They also don’t see the extra effort – like regularly being the first one on the practice field, and the last to leave.
“Just trying to be the best, trying to be the best I can,” says Robertson. “Ever since I was a little kid just had that passion, going outside and playing all the time, pickup football and stuff like that. As I grew up I still have that passion, it's a different passion now, different grind, you come out here every day you gotta work, no matter if you're injured or tired you gotta push through it to get better.”
Demetris isn’t just a well-rounded player, he’s a well-rounded person. The soon-to-be architecture major has always had a passion – and a flare – for sketching.
“It's something I've been doing since I was a kid with my twin sister, we used to draw all the time, sketch all the time about anything really. Something that I really love. I can zone out from football or anything, school, just to take me to another world.”
“I remember he showed me the sketch when he committed. He sketched the Cal bear, did that for his commitment, he showed me that one,” says Veasy. “Having that other spectrum, other side to you, being a whole person, doing other things besides being out here, besides being a guy just all about ball.”
But make no mistake, ball is Robertson’s #1 priority. He enters his sophomore season on multiple award lists, and – when the time is right – he’ll be a legit NFL prospect. As for his ceiling?
“Ooh, it's really high,” says Baldwin. “If you're gonna hit a high ceiling, you gotta get in your mind, know that I have a lot of work to do. We use the term around here ‘not a finished product,’ and he really believes that so. Sky's the limit in my opinion.
Veasy concurs. “He can be great. He has an opportunity here to be great. Given the guys who came before him, the Desean Jacksons, Marvin Jones, all the great guys we have here - he can be that next guy.