Cal’s Alex Netherda rebounds on and off field after last year’s fires
Beau Baldwin started to say that Alex Netherda’s emergence as a running back has been unexpected, but then the Cal offensive coordinator stopped himself.
You see, nothing Netherda accomplishes should be all that surprising.
The junior has played safety, receiver and running back for the Bears, and amid all of those changes, he has managed to offer some even more inspirational moments off the field.
During the North Bay wildfires in October that burned 245,000 acres, killed 41 people and did $9.4 billion in damage, the Netherda family lost its Santa Rosa home of 22 years. Just four days after seeing the charred memories of his childhood, Netherda played in Cal’s 37-3 upset of then-No.