Cal Sports Report

Cal Long-Snapper David Bird Enters Transfer Portal

Bird did not have any errant snaps on punts or place-kicks the past two seasons for the Bears

Jake Curtis

Cal punter Lachlan Wilson (37) and long snapper David Bird (45)
Cal punter Lachlan Wilson (37) and long snapper David Bird (45) / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Cal's No. 1 long snapper David Bird announced on social media on Friday that he is entering the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

Players who enter the portal before a bowl game seldom remain on the roster for the bowl. If Bird does not remain on the roster, the Bears' long-snapping duties in the LA Bowl will probably be provided by Hunter Barth, who also gets considerable playing time at inside linebacker.

It will be interesting to see whether Cal has any mishaps on snaps on punts or place-kicks without the reliable Bird. The Bears (6-6) face UNLV (10-3) in the LA Bowl on Wednesday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Bird made 59 snaps without an error in 2023 as a freshman, and he did not have any errant snaps this season either.

Bird is from Phoenix, Arizona, and he was coached by former Cal long-snapper Nick Sundberg, who played in 152 regular-season NFL games over 11 seasons with Washington.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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