Cal Sports Report

Ex-Cal Safety Daniel Scott Tears ACL, Will Miss Rookie Season

Scott was a fifth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts and had a good chance to make the regular-season squad

Jake Curtis

Former Cal safety and current Indianapolis Colts rookie Daniel Scott suffered a major blow to his chances of making an NFL team when he tore his anterior-cruciate ligament on the final play of the Colts’ Organized team activities (OTAs) earlier this month.

He was placed on the injured list last week and he presumably will miss the entire 2023 season.

Scott was the Colts’ fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft and was given a good chance to make the 53-man regular-season squad, perhaps as a special teams performer in his first seasons before climbing the depth chart as a safety.

Scott was considered a long shot to get drafted immediately after he completed the 2022 season at Cal. However, he impressed NFL scouts with his performance at the NFL Combine, recording times and measurements that were much better than anticipated and among the best for safeties.

He followed that up with a strong performance in drills during Cal’s Pro Day in March.

In early May, Scott a four-year contract worth $4,147,836 with the Colts. The contract has $307,836 guaranteed, including a $307,836 signing bonus.

Scott will turn 25 years old in October, so he was considered old for a rookie, and now he must delay his chance to make an NFL team until next year.

Athletes recover from torn ACLs faster than they used to, but it is still a long arduous process that typically wipes out an entire season and sometimes more than that.

Scott was a two-year starter as safety for Cal, intercepting three passes as a junior and three more as a senior. He received only honorable mention recognition on the Pac-12 all-conference teams in 2021 and 2022 but became the fifth Cal defensive back to be taken in the NFL Draft in the past four years.

Cover photo of Daniel Scott b Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

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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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