Cal Football: Former Bears/NFL Linebacker Steve Hendrickson Dies at 54

Hendrickson described by ex-Cal teammate as 'force of life'

Steve Hendrickson, a high-energy linebacker at Cal in the late 1980s who went on to play seven seasons in the NFL, died on Friday at the age of 54.

“Steve was a ball of energy, funny, engaging, hilarious, goofy,” former Cal teammate and roommate David Ortega said. “He was awesome, lived life to the fullest. He was a force of life.”

A native of Napa, Hendrickson was an honorable mention All-Pac-10 player as a senior in 1988 then was a sixth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1989 NFL draft.

Hendrickson played 100 games over seven NFL seasons with five teams.

Former Cal quarterback Mike Pawlawski, a redshirt freshman when Hendrickson was a senior, said Hendrickson was a great teammate, especially with younger players.

“He was a crazy competitive, super fun-loving guy,” Pawlawski said.

Hendrickson and Ortega arrived together at Cal as all-state high school standouts. Ortega went on to set Cal’s still-standing career record with 525 tackles, but Hendrickson led the Bears with 134 tackles as a senior in 1988. He had 286 for his career, which still ranks eighth on the Bears’ all-time list.

Hendrickson was given the team’s Joe Roth Award in 1988, for representing the courage, sportsmanship and attitude of the late Cal quarterback legend.

On the field he was a dynamo, Ortega said. “He was really fast, very athletic, super strong.”

In fact, Hendrickson set a program record with 620 pounds in the squat press and also bench pressed 415 pounds.

Pawlawski recalled the 6-foot-1, 250-pound Hendrickson being asked during a news conference about being temporarily moved to defensive line and if he would be at a disadvantage against bigger offensive linemen.

“I’m stronger than any of the offensive linemen on that team,” Hendrickson said.

“My favorite quote from Steve Hendrickson of all time,” Pawlawski said.

Hendrickson is survived by two children, daughter Courtney, who was an all-conference goalkeeper on Cal’s field hockey team in 2013, and son Kyle, who played football at Fresno State from 2015 through ’17.

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