By The Spear Staff
Today’s Spear Speaks focuses on each staff member’s favorite all-time athlete to come out of SJSU. Comment yours below!
Derrick: My favorite athlete to come out of SJSU was quarterback David Fales. Fales is from my hometown and he led Spartan Football back to national prominence. Fales transferred from Monterey Peninsula College before the 2012 season. He had a stellar career at MPC but he only got two offers to play Division I football.
He earned the starting QB role in 2012. In his first start, he threw for 216 passing yards and a touchdown as he almost led the Spartans to a major upset against Stanford. He would have one of the greatest single seasons in school history. He threw for 4,193 yards, 31 touchdowns, and nine interceptions in 2012. The Spartans went 11-2 and won the Military Bowl. Fales threw for 395 yards and 2 touchdowns as he was named the game’s MVP. The Spartans finished 24th in the AP Poll which is the highest-ranking the Spartans have had since the 1990 season. The Spartans went 6-6 in 2013 which did not result in a bowl bid. Fales had another phenomenal season as he threw for 4,189 and 33 touchdowns. His most notable performance was in an upset win over 16th ranked Fresno State which was led by Derek Carr. He threw for a school game record 547 passing yards against the Bulldogs.
Fales finished his career at San Jose State with 8,382 passing yards and 66 touchdowns which are school records. He led by example and exploded onto the national scene. He did get drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 6th round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has played for five NFL teams in 6 seasons, most recently the New York Jets.
Jessica: My favorite athlete/coach to come out of San Jose State University is Yoshiro Uchida. Uchida was a Judo competitor beginning at the age of 10 that lasted into his adult life. He brought the sport to SJSU while he was a student in the 1940s. He is of Japanese-American descent and during World War II he was drafted in the Army and served as a medical technician while his family was forced into internment camps. After the war, Uchida returned to SJSU to finish his biology degree and became the head coach of the Judo program he created. Uchida helped create a weight class system allowing anyone to be able to practice Judo. This granted the framework of the sport to expand throughout the collegiate level. In 1953, Uchida secured Judo as a sport in the Amateur Athletic Union. In the 1960s, he coordinated the first National Collegiate Judo Championship in which SJSU won over 40 national titles under his coaching. In 1964, Uchida qualified Judo as an Olympic event and served as the first head coach of the sport for the United States. Uchida Hall is named after him in honor of his contributions to the college in 1997. Uchida Hall was once the site for the men’s gymnasium/ Spartan Complex West that was used as the registration building for Japanese-Americans in Santa Clara County to be processed and sent to internment camps during WWII.
Kenia: One of my favorite SJSU athletes would be Tommie Smith. One of the reasons why he is one of my favorite athletes is because he is known for standing up for his beliefs.
He will forever stay in our history. It was during the olympic medal ceremony after breaking record of 200 m dash that 1st place and 3rd place (John Carlos) held up a black glove when they played their home national anthem as a sign of ongoing civil rights injustice going on in America.That made him stand out from others the fact that he was willing to risk it all to show that he was against the violence that was happening at the time made him a brave athlete. He was born in june 1944 know as a track and field athlete and wide receiver of the american football league. Even though he will forever be recognized for his brave act lets not forget that Smith just like Carlos was a great athlete. Even though after the incident they were ostracized by the US sporting establishment they were not willing to give up and represent minories. I believe athletes like this deserve unlimited recognition.
Leslie: My favorite athlete who came out of San Jose State University is Jill Sudduth. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Sudduth won a gold medal in synchronized swimming with duet partner Becky Dyroen-Lancer. The duo was undefeated winning them a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Sudduth born Sept 9, 1971, learned how to swim when she was 4 and continued swimming and competing in synchronized swimming for 20 years. She would practice 5-7 hours a day 6 days per week. She is considered one of the world’s best synchronized swimmers. She was named World Synchronized Swimmer of the Year in 1993 by Swimming World Magazine.
She swam at the Santa Clara AquaMaids under coach Coach Chris Carver winning multiple Junior National titles and the 1989 Junior World Duet and Team Champion. She also competed in swimming, diving and water polo events at AquaMaids. Leading up to her gold medal she won 16 major international competitions.
Sudduth was well known for her powerful bridge during team routines. They received a perfect score of ten, the first and only perfect score in Olympic synchronized swimming until the 2008 Olympic Games when Russia received a score of 10.
Jarra: Tariq Abdul-Wahad, The Flying Frenchman. Formerly known as Olivier Saint-Jean, he led the Spartans to their last March Madness appearance in 1996. He averaged nearly 27 points per game in the ‘96 Big West tournament to carry a 13-16 SJSU team to the conference title. The 11th overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, he started his career in Sacramento with the likes of Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic and a rookie White Chocolate. After his tenure with the Kings he spent four more seasons in the league with the Magic, Nuggets and Mavericks. Fun fact, he coached my high school’s basketball team while I was a student.
Madyson: My favorite athlete to come out of San Jose State would have to be none other than Tommie Smith. An Olympic gold medalist and a social activist takes the cake. The main reason he is my favorite athlete to come out of SJSU would have to be the fact that he did not get the proper recognition he deserved during his college years.
This is an easy question to answer as he made history at the 1968 Olympics with his 19.83 time in the 200 meter event. His world record remained unbroken for 11 years. On top of his athletic achievement, he took a stand for social justice, risking his safety on the podium. I also think Tommie Smith is the most memorable athlete to come out of SJSU as he and John Carlos have a statue in their honor at the heart of the campus.
Gio: My favorite athlete to come out of SJSU has to be offensive lineman David Quessenberry. I know O-linemen are not really well known, but they are highly undervalued and are a crucial part to any good football team. A walk-on in 2008, Quessenberry quickly worked his way to the starting five. He would start 27 straight games and became a team captain in 2012, which was arguably his best season. The Spartans went 11-2 that year and won the Military bowl. Quessenberry was then selected to play in the senior, the first SJSU lineman to get the honor.
The next year in 2013, he would get drafted in the sixth round by the Houston Texans. Sadly, Quessenberry hasnt had the best NFL stint. He suffered an injury early in 2014 which forced him on the IR that year. During that same year, Quessenberry was diagnosed with Lymphoma. The Texans put him on the “Non-Football Designation” list. They waived him in 2018. On April 13, 2017, Quessenberry had finished his cancer treatment and was cancer free. Feeling energized, Quessenberry signed with the Tennessee Titans shortly after getting waived. During week 2 of the 2019 NFL season, Quessenberry caught a pass showing how versatile an O-lineman can be. At the beginning of the year, Quessenberry signed a new contract with the Titans.
For those reasons, David Qussenberry is my favorite athlete to come out of SJSU.
Nick: For me, I’ll take one I’ve met a few times in real life, and that’s former 49ers kicker, Joe Nedney. Nedney had a successful college career at San Jose State, but went undrafted following his senior season. He bounced around the NFL throughout his 20s before landing with the 49ers in 2005. Nedney would end up being the kicker in San Francisco for six years, and appeared in 86 games. Nedney was a great soldier for the 49ers, but he retired just before the Harbaugh era got underway.
Nedney used to be neighbors with my aunt and uncle, so I’ve had the pleasure to meet him numerous times. Every time I’ve seen him in-person, I’m always amazed at how massive of a human being he is. Standing at an imposing 6’5’’, he doesn’t look like a prototypical kicker.
Austin: I love a good underdog story, and Jeff Garcia is a guy that really stuck out to me as a kid. Now, his days at SJSU were before my time, and I’m not even old enough to remember him slinging it to T.O. for the Niners. The Jeff Garcia I know and love was when he was suiting up for the Eagles in ‘06. That was the year I fell in love with football, and there are two things that really stick out to me from that NFL season. One: my beloved Chargers had the best year in franchise history and it ended in a way I will never get over. Two: I loved watching the crazy run Garcia and the Eagles had that year.
Philly was his fourth stop in four years, and he was backing up the full-blown superstar Donovan McNabb. When McNabb suffered a season-ending knee injury in week 11, and the Eagles were blown out by the Colts the next week. But then Garcia went on an absolute tear, ending the season on a 5-game win streak and winning a playoff game. As a 9-year-old beginning his journey as a sports fan, this was my first real exposure to a Cinderella-type run, and since then I’ve always rooted for the little guy. So shoutout to Jeff Garcia, you’re the man.
Kellen: My favorite athlete to come out of San Jose State is my good friend Terrell Brown. He was a basketball player who averaged 7.2 points and 1.7 assists in one year as a Spartan.
Brown was kicked off of the SJSU basketball team after getting arrested for robbery in 2017.
But he didn’t let this stop his journey. Brown went on to continue his career at San Francisco City College where he won CCCAA state championship and Coast-Conference North MVP.
He now plays at New Mexico State where they are coming off a first round loss in last year’s NCAA tournament.
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