Candidates to Be Celebrity Guest Picker on ESPN GameDay at Cal

We rank the top 20 people who could represent Berkeley on the college football pregame show Saturday morning. One person stands out

Marshawn Lynch (R) drives the injury cart with rapper E-40 on the 10-year anniversary of driving the cart after a Cal win over Washington / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

With ESPN’s GameDay coming to the Cal campus this coming Saturday morning – it will be dark when they start the program at 6 a.m. Pacific time – speculation runs rampant about who the celebrity guest game-picker will be.

Fear not we have established a ranking of who it should be – although, admittedly we have no knowledge of who it actually will be.

The celebrity guest picker is typically an alumnus of the hosting school, but there have been occasions when someone who represents the region but is not an alum has been the celebrity guest. Singer Blake Shelton, comedian Nate Bargatze and race-car driver Danica Patrick, among others, have been guest pickers despite not having attended the host school. So we could include the likes of Carlos Santana, Grace Slick, Joe Montana and Gavin Newsom as candidates for Cal’s GameDay if we wanted – but we don’t have room for everyone.

A number of people have been celebrity pickers more than once, so that does not eliminate Aaron Rodgers, who was a guest picker in 2016 (taking a jab at Mack Brown in the process). Logistics will be an issue for Rodgers this time, as we will note.

So let’s get on with it, as we count down our top 20 candidates to be GameDay’s celebrity guest this Saturday at Cal, with the No. 1 candidate being far and away the top choice.

Honorable mention: Swimmer Ryan Murphy, actor John Cho, Chargers receiver Keenan Allen, writer Joan Didion, astronaut Leroy Chiao, former Raiders CEO Amy Trask, Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall, swimmers Natalie Coughlin and Matt Biondi.

20. Kamala Harris – The presidential candidate was born in Oakland, lived briefly in Berkeley as a baby, and both her parents attended Cal. She is associated strongly with the Bay Area and appearing on GameDay would do wonders for her campaign.

19. Mark Madsen – Cal’s men’s basketball coach and former NBA player has Golden Bears fans excited about hoops, and he can energize any group with his brand of unbridled optimism.  He’ll be selling the Brooklyn Bridge to Rece Davis. (Yes, he’s a Stanford grad, but he’s wearing blue and gold now and he grew up in the Bay Area.)

18. Stephen Curry – The Warriors star is everywhere and is identified as Bay Area royalty. People in the Bay Area who know nothing about basketball know who Steph Curry is. He didn’t attend Cal, but who cares?

17. Jerry Brown – The two-time California governor and Oakland mayor graduated from Cal in 1961 with a degree in Classics. He could instruct Lee Corso and Pat McAfee on the habits of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

16. Billie Joe Armstrong – The Green Day lead vocalist was born in Oakland, grew up in the Bay Area and recently was given the key to the Bay Area city of Pinole. Having him on GameDay would be the time of your life.

15. Jaylen Brown – Brown played one season at Cal, and gained superstardom this year when he was named the MVP of both the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals as Boston won the NBA title. He says what he thinks and doesn’t speak in cliches.

14. Chris Pine – The actor who played James T. Kirk and Wonder Woman’s companion graduated from Cal in 2002 with an English degree. So he could wow the GameDay crowd with literary references.

13. Nnamdi Asomugha – The former Cal safety and star NFL cornerback has carved out a productive career as an actor and producer.  His low, understated speaking voice that provides thoughtful information requires close attention.

12. Steve Wozniak – The co-founder of Apple grew up in the Bay Area (San Jose), enrolled at Cal in 1971 and ultimately graduated from Cal in 1986.  He should be able to compute some winners in college football games.

11. Aaron Rodgers – Having him as the GameDay celebrity would make perfect sense were it not for the fact that Rodgers’ New York Jets are scheduled to play the Vikings in London the next day.

10. Collin Morikawa/Max Homa – Both these popular, high-ranking pro golfers graduated from Cal, and Max Homa is one of the most popular golfers in the world, partly because of his engaging tweets and his forthright and interesting interviews. He could steal the show.

9. Tom Hanks -- The two-time, Oscar-winning actor grew up in the Bay Area (born in Concord, attended Chabot College in Hayward), but here is the clincher: When asked during a 2001 interview with Bob Costas whether he would rather have an Oscar or a Heisman Trophy, Hanks said he would rather win a Heisman by playing halfback for the California Golden Bears. That’s too good.

8. Jerry Mathers – What would be better than seeing the “Leave It to Beaver” star, who graduated from Cal in 1973 with a degree in philosophy?  Is GameDay smart enough to see the wisdom in inviting the 76-year-old Beaver Cleaver?

7. Adam Duritz – The Counting Crows lead vocalist reportedly fell one course shy of graduating from Cal, but he is a devoted Cal sports fan who has given pregame talks to Golden Bears football and basketball teams and did some sideline reporting for radio.  He loves Cal athletics and hates Stanford. Enough said.

6. Jason Kidd – Kidd grew up in Oakland, packed arenas as a Cal point guard, became a Hall of Fame NBA player, and led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals as a head coach this year. He is still worshiped in Berkeley.

5. Ron Rivera – The former standout Cal and NFL linebacker remains closely involved with Cal fund-raising and has led the NIL drive at Cal. He is available these days after being a two-time NFL coach of the year, and he’ll be on the Cal campus Friday night participating in a panel discussion as part of Latin American heritage month.

4. Jared Goff – The former Cal quarterback is coming off an NFL-record 18-for-18 passing performance in the Lions’ Monday win over Seattle. And he would be available because the Lions have a bye this week.  Detroit fans chanted his name at an NHL game before last year’s NFC championship game, and students attending GameDay would chant his name if he would attend.

3. Alex Morgan – Morgan, who graduated from Cal with a degree in Political Economy after starring on the Golden Bears soccer teams, was a two-time World Cup champion and an Olympic gold medalist for the U.S. Women’s National Team. She is wildly popular, has been a spokesperson for women’s sports issues, is a successful businesswoman and is big news these days because she announced her retirement from pro soccer last month.

2. Tony Gonzalez – The former Cal tight end and Golden Bears basketball player is one of two Cal alumni in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he knows his way around a microphone as one of the studio analysts for NFL Thursday Night Football.  He would have something to say and the expertise to back it up.

1. Marshawn Lynch – Lynch is far and away the best choice, and if ESPN GameDay doesn’t try to lure Lynch onto its set, it doesn’t know the Bay Area. Lynch checks all the boxes. He grew up in Oakland. He was a star at Cal. He was a star in the NFL. He is always authentic and entertaining. He remains an Oakland icon.  When Anthony Fauci wanted to reach the African American community in Oakland regarding the pandemic, who did he contact for a video interview? Yep, Marshawn Lynch, who made that video worthwhile.  GameDay probably should use its seven-second delay when conversing with Lynch, but it would absolutely be a blast.

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