Cal Football: Senior Linebacker Braxten Croteau is the Golden Bears' Magic Man
Cal coach Justin Wilcox says senior outside linebacker Braxten Croteau is a no-nonsense guy. “Braxten is pretty serious about everything,” Wilcox said.
But the 6-foot-5, 255-pounder from suburban Phoenix breaks out of his quiet, business-like shell when he performs magic tricks for teammates and friends.
“He’s good. He’s a legit magician,” Wilcox said. “Quite the entertainer.”
DeCarlos Brooks, a junior running backs, recalls Croteau dazzling his teammates during fall camp a couple years back.
“It was some card trick, basically just made the cards switch out of somebody’s hand. I don’t know how the heck he did it,” Brooks said. “That’s some sorcery someone needs to check on. He’s really good.”
In the video below, Croteau shows a bit of his sleight-of-hand with this trick he performed for us after practice Wednesday. See if you can figure out how he did it. I couldn't, and I was standing right there.
This all started when Croteau decided he wanted to get under the skin of his coach at Liberty High in Peoria, Ariz.
"My high school football coach hated magic. So I decided to mess with him a little bit,” Croteau said.
He began with card tricks, inspired by master illusionist David Blaine.
And his effect on his coach?
“(He) would tell me to go away because he didn’t like it,” Croteau said. “My teammates are all for it now. I’ll have guys come up and ask for magic. I’ll do it anytime.”
Croteau said he’s branched out beyond simple card tricks.
“Now it’s getting a little more advanced. I’m using the lockers in the locker room to hide different things. Pull things out of different areas,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. I’ve done it in front of the team a couple times.”
Wilcox recalls holding “Magic Mondays” shortly after Croteau joined the team, where he would entertain the team in fall camp or during meetings. Croteau’s low-key person sets things up perfectly, Wilcox said.
“He’s the kind of guy where you don’t want to play Braxten in pool. He’s going to come off as real steady and even and all of a sudden he’s taking you for al you’ve got,” Wilcox said. “He’s a calculated fella.”
Braxten Croteau (52) helps bring down a TCU ball carrier.
Photo by Jerome Miron, USA Today
The coaching staff has great trust in Croteau, a returning starter who had 24 tackles in 2021.
“Braxten is just such a solid guy,” Wilcox says in the video below. “You always know what you’re going to get from Braxten — he’s got incredible focus. He’s a very tough guy. He’s improving in some of the coverage things we ask him to do. In terms of playing the run . . . Braxten is very solid.”
Croteau said the experience he gained a year ago gives him a better grasp on his job going forward.
“The game experience definitely helps, being here for three to four years now. Being comfortable with the defense definitely allows me to play faster and be able to see things better,” he said. “I feel a lot more confident now.”
Croteau always feels comfortable showing off his magic skills.
“I think it’s something I can always fall back on and have fun with. It’s easy to carry around a deck of cards,” he said. “It brings a lot of laughs and fun to the locker room. Definitely something I’ll keep doing.”
It draws a crowd at parties, Croteau acknowledged.
And does it help with girls?
“I’ve got a girlfriend,” he said, “so maybe it did.”
Cover photo of Cal outside linebacker Braxten Croteau
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
