Most Critical Trades Involving Ex-Cal Athletes in the Pros

From early in the 20th century, Golden Bears have been part of pro sports wheeling and dealing

Marshawn Lynch dives into the end zone / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

This week’s flurry of high-profile NBA trades got us to wondering about the most consequential trades involving former Cal athletes in the three major teams sports. 

Here are 10 of them, spanning more than a century, that we plucked from baseball, football and basketball: 

— ORVAL OVERALL, June 2, 1906: Cal’s first major leaguer was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Bob Wicker, who finished that season with a 6-11 record before retiring, prompting some experts to label the trade the worst in franchise history until they sent Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Milt Pappas.

Overall was 86-43 in six seasons with the Cubs, compiling a 1.94 earned run average. He won 23 games in 1907 and 20 in ’09 and was 3-1 in four World Series, capturing world titles in 1907 and ’08.

Born in 1881 in Farmersville, CA, in Tulare County, Overall played baseball and football at Cal while studying agricultural science. 

Jackie Jensen / Sports Illustrated

— JACKIE JENSEN, May 9, 1952: Once considered the potential successor to Joe DiMaggio in center field for the Yankees, New York unloaded Jensen after the emergence of Mickey Mantle. On May 9, 1952, the Yankees sent him to the Washington Senators, along with Spec Shea, Jerry Snyder and Archie Wilson in exchange for Irv Noren and Tom Upton.

Jensen was fairly ordinary in two seasons with the Senators, who on Dec. 9, 1953 traded him to the Boston Red Sox for Mickey McDermott and Tom Umphlett.

With tutoring from Ted Williams, Jensen put together five seasons of at least 100 RBIs in his first six years with the Red Sox, and in 1958 was voted American League MVP after career-best totals of 35 home runs and 122 RBIs.

— LES RICHTER, June 12, 1952: A two-time consensus All-America pick as an offensive guard and linebacker at Cal, Richter was the No. 2 pick of the 1952 NFL draft by the Boston Yanks. When the Yanks’ franchise folded before the ’52 NFL season, the Dallas Texans assumed the rights for Richter, then sent him to Los Angeles in one of the biggest trades in league history.

To land Richter, the Rams sent 11 players to Dallas. He played linebacker and nose guard (and placekicker) for the Rams, was an eight-time Pro Bowl pick and four times earned first-team All-Pro honors. He never missed a game in nine seasons with the Rams, and eventually was voted into the college football and pro football halls of fame.

Only two of the players traded to the Texans — fullback Dick Hoerner and defensive back/end Tom Keane — did anything substantial going forward. Six of them never played another game.

— CRAIG MORTON, March 7, 1977: The No. 5 pick of the Cowboys in the 1965 NFL draft, Morton played parts of 10 seasons with Dallas, leading the franchise to Super Bowl after the 1970 season, where they lost 16-13 to the Baltimore Colts. 

The Cowboys traded Morton to the New York Giants at mid-season in 1974, and after 2 1/2 seasons he was shipped to Denver in exchange for quarterback Steve Ramsey and draft pick. 

Morton resurrected his career in Denver, winning NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 1977, when he became the first quarterback to start for different teams in the Super Bowl. He lost again, this time after throwing four interceptions against his old team, the Cowboys, in a 27-10 defet.

Kevin Johnson, right, with Suns teammate Charles Barkley / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

— KEVIN JOHNSON, Feb. 25, 1988: Drafted No. 7 by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1987, KJ was packaged part way through his rookie season in a trade to Phoenix (along with Tyrone Corbin, Mark West, a draft pick that became Dan Majerle, and a second draft pick) for Larry Nance, Mike Sanders and a first-round draft pick.

The Suns enjoyed KJ for the rest of his 12-year career, in which he averaged 17.9 points and 9.1 rebounds and helped lead them to the 1993 NBA Finals, where he scored 25 points in each of two Phoenix victories in a 4-2 series loss to Michael Jordan and the Bulls. 

Johnson won Most Improved Player in 1989 when he had the first of five seasons averaging 20 points or more. He was a three-time All-Star and was named to the second-team All-NBA team four times.

Tony Gonzalez / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

— TONY GONZALEZ, April 19, 1997: The Houston Oilers traded their No. 13 pick in the NFL draft and a fourth-round pick (that became Cal quarterback Pat Barnes) to the Chiefs for four draft picks, who went on to combine for zero Pro Bowl selections during their careers. 

The Chiefs selected Gonzalez, who became the most prolific tight end in NFL history, catching 916 passes for 10,940 yards with 76 touchdowns in 12 seasons with Kansas City before spending his final five seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.  His 1,325 career receptions still rank third all time in NFL history (first among tight ends), his 15,127 receiving yards are No. 6 and his 111 touchdown catches are No. 8.

All told, Gonzalez was a 14-time Pro Bowl pick and six-time first-team All-Pro selection before being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

— SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM, June 27, 2001: The No. 3 pick of the 1996 NBA draft, the one-and-done Cal star averaged 20.8 points for his five seasons with Vancouver before being traded with Jamaal Tinsley to Atlanta for thee players, including Pau Gasol. 

He played three seasons with the Hawks, earning his only All-Star appearance in his first season in Atlanta in 2002, when he averaged 21.2 points and 9.0 rebounds.

Abdur-Rahim was traded late in the 2004 season to the Trail Blazers. He signed as a free agent with Sacramento in the summer of 2005, and played his final three seasons with the Kings before landing a job in their front office.

Jason Kidd drives against Tony Parker / Photo by Jerome Miron

— JASON KIDD, Feb.19, 2008: Jason Kidd was traded three times during his NBA career, but it was the last one that led to what he most craved as a player — a championship. He was just shy of 35 when the Nets sent him to Dallas — the franchise that originally drafted him — to join forces with Dirk Nowitzki. 

The deal involved a total of eight players and two draft picks, one of whom became Cal’s Ryan Anderson. 

Three years later, the Mavericks got it done. Kidd averaged 9.3 points, 7.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 21 postseason games, and Dallas beat the Miami Heat — with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — 4-2 in the Finals for its first NBA title.

— MARSHAWN LYNCH, Oct. 5, 2011: Drafted by Buffalo, Lynch played six seasons with the Bills before being traded mid-season to the Seahawks for fourth- and fifth-round picks in 2011. The deal worked quite nicely for Seattle.

Lynch rushed for 6,381 yards and 58 touchdowns for the Seahawks, landing four Pro Bowl invites and a first-team All-Pro selection in 2012 when he rushed for 1,590 yards. 

He helped the Seahawks crush Denver 43-8 in the Super Bowl following the 2013 season, and a year later watched as Russell Wilson was picked off in the end zone on a second down play from the 1-yard line when everyone expected the ball would go to Lynch. The Patriots won the game 28-24 with Tom Brady getting the fourth of his seven career Super Bowl titles.

— JARED GOFF, March 18, 2021: The No. 1 overall draft pick by the Rams in 2016, Goff played five seasons in Los Angeles, twice earning Pro Bowl honors and leading the Rams into the Super Bowl in his third season. The Rams lost 13-3 to the Patriots and two years later L.A. gave up on Goff, trading him to the Detroit Lions for fellow QB Matthew Stafford.

Stafford led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory in his first season but things also have worked out well for Goff. The Lions have improved every year Goff has been there, posting a combined record of 27-7 the past two seasons.

In 2023, he led the Lions to their first road playoff victory since 1957, then to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost 34-31 to the 49ers. This past season he threw for 4,629 yards and a career-high 37 touchdowns, completing better than 72 percent of his attempts to power Detroit to a 15-2 regular season.