Jahvid Best Early years
Jahvid Best attended Salesian High School in Richmond, California. In his junior year he had 1,495 rushing yards on 138 attempts with 20 touchdowns. Salesian also won the North Coast Section championship in 2005 to conclude a 12–1 season. In his senior year, Best ran for 3,325 yards and 48 touchdowns, both Bay Area single-season records. Salesian once again made it to the NCS finals, but lost in the final game to St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School of Vallejo.
Best ran track as well, participating in the Arcadia Invitational in his junior and senior years. As a junior, he won the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.39 seconds with an injured foot. As a senior he won the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.40 seconds. Also during his senior year, Best won the California Interscholastic Federation state championship in the 100 meters with a discounted wind assisted time of 10.31. Best finished his senior season with personal bests of 10.36 and 20.65, the 5th and 2nd fastest times in the nation respectively. His 100 meter time equals the personal best of Justin Gatlin as a high school senior; both times eclipse Tyson Gay's personal bests as a high school senior.
Best received scholarship offers from Arizona, Arizona State, California, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, USC, and Washington among others, before ultimately committing to California in 2006.
Jahvid Best College career
Jahvid Best 2007
As a true freshman in 2007, Best was the primary backup to Justin Forsett. On only 29 carries, Best had 221 rushing yards, and 2 touchdowns. Best also caught 13 passes for 174 yards and a receiving touchdown. Best was selected as the team's Most Valuable Freshman as well as the team's J. Scott Duncan Award (Most Valuable Special Teams Player).
Jahvid Best 2008
Best quickly got the nation's attention in the season opener against Michigan State on August 30. Best had 111 yards on 24 carries including a touchdown. His breakout game came on September 6 in a 66-3 Cal win against Washington State, having two touchdown runs of 80 and 86 yards, respectively. Best finished the game with exactly 200 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.
Best struggled the following week against Maryland. This was mostly due to California falling behind early, therefore limiting Best's touches, due to a change in game plan by the Bears. Although he returned to form against Colorado State, he dislocated his elbow and would miss the next game against Arizona State.[9] He returned for the Arizona game, and dashed for a 67 yard score that put the Bears ahead in the second quarter. He would rack up 140 all purpose yards against the Wildcats.
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| Best carries the ball during the Big Game |
After two more impressive outings against UCLA and Oregon, where he averaged over six yards per carry, Best was held to only 30 yards against the USC Trojans. Following a 201 yard rushing game against the Stanford Cardinal in the 2008 Big Game on 19 carries, Best became the seventh consecutive 1,000 rusher for Cal since Jeff Tedford became head coach in 2002. During the last game of the regular season versus Washington on December 6, Best became the first Cal player to rush for over 300 yards in a game and ended the regular season as the Pac-10's leading rusher, beating out Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers.
A 186-yard, two touchdown performance in the 2008 Emerald Bowl earned him Offensive MVP honors for the game. Best finished the 2008 season with 1,580 rushing yards, an 8.1-yard per carry average, and 15 touchdowns.
Jahvid Best 2009
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| Best carries the ball against Eastern Washington in September |
On January 15, 2009 Best underwent surgery to tighten a ligament that had been injured when he dislocated his left elbow against Colorado State on September 27, 2008. This was followed up by foot surgery on January 23 to relieve irritation that was caused when Best bruised his foot halfway through the 2008 season. He missed spring football practice as a result. Best was named as the most explosive player in college football by Rivals.com in February 2009. In early June Best was able to participate in team summer workouts without pain. Entering his junior year, Best's breakout sophomore year caused early speculation of him being a future Heisman candidate and top running back prospect.
In Cal's season opener against Maryland, Best rushed for 137 yards and had two rushing touchdowns in the Bears' 52-13 victory. On September 12 against Eastern Washington, he rushed for 144 yards and one touchdown, and had one 22 yard receiving touchdown. On September 19 against Minnesota he ran for 131 yards and all of Cal's five touchdowns in the victory, a personal best and a modern school record. He was named Pac-10 Player of the Week and Rivals.com National Player of the Week.However, the next week Best was held to 55 rushing yards and no touchdowns on 16 carries against the Oregon Ducks. The following week he was held to 48 yards on 15 carries against the #7 Trojans, also unable to find the end zone. On October 17, Best recorded both his longest run and longest reception against UCLA in California's 45-26 victory over the Bruins.
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| Best at the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl. |
Best was injured during the second quarter of Cal's November 7 matchup against Oregon State. In the process of scoring a rushing touchdown, he hurdled a defender into the end zone and was accidentally pushed by a second Oregon State defender in mid-air, causing him to land on the back of his head with his helmet coming off. The play resulted in a concussion for Best. After a 13-minute game delay, Best was taken off the field on a stretcher to the Highland General Hospital in Oakland. This was his second concussion in two weeks, following a mild concussion received the previous week against Arizona State. He was released the next day.and did not play the following week's game against Arizona, although he appeared as an honorary team captain. Best would miss the rest of the regular season. On December 16, head coach Jeff Tedford announced that Best would not play in the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl, stating that "'to get him back in game-ready form I don't feel like that's something that we can get done to have him ready to play.'" Best announced on January 2, 2010 that he would forego his senior year and enter the NFL draft.
Jahvid Best Records
Cal record for most rushing yards in a single game at 311, achieved on December 6, 2008 against the Washington Huskies
Second highest Cal single season rushing record with 1,580 yards in 2008, second to J. J. Arrington's record of 2,018 yards in 2004
Most all purpose yards in a single season (2008) with 2,247 total yards
2008 Emerald Bowl rushing record with 186 yards
Set a modern era Cal record for most rushing touchdowns in a single game with five scored against Minnesota on September 19, 2009. Dick Dunn rushed for six in 1922.
Jahvid Best Professional career
2010 NFL Draft
Pre-draft measureables
Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP Wonderlic
5 ft 10 in 199 lb 31¾ in 9 in 4.35 s 1.48 s 2.05 s 4.17 s 6.75 s 32.5 in 9 ft 5 in 18 rep 24
All values from NFL Combine
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Best had the third fastest overall 40 yard dash time and was the fastest among running backs. He was selected in a pick trade from the Minnesota Vikings by the Detroit Lions 30th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. Regarding the pick, Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said, "Some people watch adult videos on their computer... I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me going."
Detroit Lions
Best signed a five year, $9.8 million contract with the Lions on July 30.
Jahvid Best 2010 season
Best started 15 games, scoring his first career NFL rushing touchdowns in the regular season opener on September 12 against the Chicago Bears. His best game of the season came the following week in a 35-32 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he had 78 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and 154 receiving yards, including a 75 yard touchdown reception. He had more limited production for the rest of the season mainly due to a turf toe injury, with a career-low 2 rushing yards in Week 11 against the Dallas Cowboys, and did not score any further rushing touchdowns, although he had a 53-yard receiving touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in Week 16 during the Lions' four game winning streak.
Jahvid Best 2011 season
On Monday Night Football on October 10 against the Chicago Bears, Best had his first 100-yard game, rushing for 163 yards and a career long 88-yard touchdown run.
Jahvid Best Personal
Best's name is a combination of Jah and the last syllable of his father's name, David. His father is originally from St. Lucia and he has one sister named Laurie who is currently attending California State University, Sacramento.
All about NFL:
Jahvid Best ruled out vs. Falcons
San Francisco 49ers
Pittsburgh Steelers
49ers arrival of Edward DeBartolo & Bill Walsh
San Francisco 49ers fifth
San Francisco 49ers season Records
Seattle Seahawks
Arizona Cardinals
Detroit Lions
Jahvid Best
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