Cal Athletics 2022: Stories of the Year, Part 1

In the first of three installments, we unveil Nos. 11 through 15 of the Bears' top headlines.

A lot happened in 2022 with Cal sports -- with current teams, athletes and coaches and those who began their journeys in Berkeley. Not all of it was good, but all of it gained our attention.

We identified the top 15 stories of the year involving the Golden Bears and will count them down beginning today.

We will share stories No. 6 through 10 on Thursday, then reveal the top 5 on Friday.

Today, we share our picks for the 11th through 15th biggest Cal sports stories from 2022:

Jaydn Ott seeks running room vs. Arizona / Photo by Darren Yamashita, USA Today

11. Freshman Jaydn Ott emerges as a star

While there wasn’t a lot for Cal fans to cheer about during a 4-8 football season, they certainly found hope in freshman running back Jaydn Ott. He came off the bench to rush for 104 yards against UC Davis in the season opener and three weeks later gained national attention with he ran for 274 yards and touchdowns of 73, 18 and 72 yards in a 49-31 win over Arizona. 

Due partly to Cal’s ineffective offensive line, Ott didn’t have another 100-yard game all season, although he rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown in the Bears’ Big Game victory over Stanford. He finished the season with a program freshman record 897 yards, a total of 1,218 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns.

Troy Taylor accepts Stanford jersey from AD Bernard Muir

12. Ex-Cal star Troy Taylor hired as Stanford coach

Troy Taylor, a popular and prolific quarterback at Cal during the late 1980s, flipped allegiances to the Bears’ chief rival when he was hired at Stanford coach earlier this month. Taylor 54, showed appreciation for his alma mater, saying, “Cal forged the person I am. I’ll forever be grateful.” 

But starting next fall he also will be trying to beat the Bears. Taylor got this opportunity after three spectacular seasons as coach in his hometown in Sacramento State, compiling a 30-8 record and winning three Big Sky Conference championships.

Jaylen Brown drives against Klay Thompson in the NBA Finals / Photo by Kyle Terada, USA Today

13. Jaylen Brown flirts with NBA crown

Cal’s one-and-done gift to the NBA, Jaylen Brown continued his emergence as one of the league’s elite players last season, pairing with Jayson Tatum to lead the Boston Celtics within two victories of an NBA title. Brown averaged 23.6 points for the season, then stayed on course by producing 23.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in the Finals against the Warriors. He scored 34 in Game 6, but Golden State prevailed to claim the title. 

Brown and the Celtics have been the best team in the NBA so far this season -- 25-10 through Tuesday night -- with the 26-year-old shooting guard putting up 26.6 points per game. That puts him on pace to compile the best single-season NBA scoring average by a former Cal player.

TCU coach Sonny Sykes / Photo by Joe Rondone, Arizona Republic

14. Ex-Cal coach Sonny Dykes thrives at TCU

Fired by Cal after a 5-7 season in 2016, Sonny Dykes made a remarkable debut this season at TCU, guiding the Horned Frogs to a 12-0 regular season and a berth in the College Football Playoff. TCU, which lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game, will face unbeaten and second-seeded Michigan in the national semifinals in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday. TCU is a 7.5-point underdog.

Dykes, 53, who directed Cal to just one bowl appearance in four seasons, has won seven national coach of the year awards for TCU, including the AP, Eddie Robinson and Walter Camp awards.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers / Photo by Dan Powers, USA Today

15. Aaron Rodgers talks about trying psychedelics

Aaron Rodgers talked publicly last summer for the first time about an experience he had in Peru in March of 2020 when he spent two psychedelic nights amongst ancient ruins for an Ayahuasca ceremony. “I had a magical experience with the sensation of feeling a hundred different hands on my body importing a blessing of love and forgiveness for myself and gratitude for this life from what seemed to be my ancestors,” the 39-year-old former Cal quarterback said on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast.

Nicknamed “the grandmother of the vine,” Ayahuasca is an ancient powerful hallucinogenic brew Rodgers says gave him “a deep and meaningful appreciation for life.” Whether it in any way contributed to the Green Bay Packers star winning his third and fourth career MVP awards in 2020 and ’21 is anyone’s guess, but Rodgers continued to reveal his thoughts on various topics throughout 2022.

Cover photo of Cal running back Jaydn Ott by Kyle Terada, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo