Scotts Valley High School alum and Ben Lomond native Richard Fisher wrapped up his collegiate football career as an offensive lineman at the University of California, Berkeley and will complete his degree in civil engineering this year.
But Fisher’s not done with football.
The 6-foot, 4-inch 290-pound vegetarian with less than 15 percent body fat turned heads at the Cal Berkley Pro Day on March 9.
Fisher drew the attention of more than 15 NFL scouts in attendance when he bench pressed 225 pounds 27 times, and added a 32 ½ inch vertical leap and a 9 foot broad jump to his resume.
In comparison, in 2009 Michael Oher, the famed 309-pound offensive lineman featured in the blockbuster movie “The Blind Side” bench pressed 225 pounds 23 times, vertical leaped 31 inches and broad jumped 8 feet, 7 inches during the NFL combine before he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.
Fisher was not drafted in last week’s NFL Draft, but plans to try to make the leap to the NFL after the league’s current lockout.
“With the league on hiatus, I am just trying to figure out where to direct my energy right now.” Fisher said, “I would love to continue a career in football, but I also really want to make a difference in the engineering aspect as well. It’ll be interesting to see what pans out.”
Fisher was a utility offensive lineman for the Bears. He filled in wherever he was needed and played in 25 games for the Bears during the last three seasons of his five year career at Cal which spanned 2006 to 2010.
At the San Francisco 49er pro day in Santa Clara, Fisher was put through a number of one-on-one and grudge-match style workouts for new 49er Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. Won all three grudge matches he took part in.
Fisher, a 2006 Scotts Valley High graduate, was selected as Scotts Valleys Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior, and garnered his team’s Offensive Lineman of the Year honors three times. He tallied 112 tackles, scored a touchdown and had four interceptions for the Falcons in 2005 while he also graduated among the top 10 in his class.
He also earned his International Baccalaureate Diploma and represented the Falcons in the 2005 Santa Cruz County All-Star Game.
Fisher’s parents, Eric and Brett Fisher, his grandparents, Richard and Aubrey Fisher and great grandfather George Degnan, all attended Berkeley and Degnan was a letter winner on the 1931 Cal football team.
