Isaac Torres no longer plays college football at the University of California, Berkeley. He was removed from the team after an injury that landed him in the emergency room led him to take a redshirt.
The marathon continues…
Although this is often an unfortunate reality of college football, the circumstances involved with Torres’ decision present poor optics for the Golden Bears. Business does not always have to be business.
Who is Isaac Torres?
Torres, a native of California, began his career with two years at Santa Rosa Junior College in his hometown. He caught 51 passes for 872 yards and eight touchdowns in eight games in 2023, which led him to be named as a Nor-Cal All-Conference player as well as an All-State selection for Region 1.
Although Isaac Torres did not receive the scholarship offers he had hoped, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world offered him an opportunity to join its football program as a walk-on. Cal officially added him to the roster in 2024.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound wide receiver did not see any action for the Golden Bears as a junior. He caught one pass for nine yards during the first game of his senior year against Texas Southern in September.
Unfortunately, that was his only catch at Cal. His time with the team has come to an end.
Cal-Berkeley kicked him off of the team.
According to Isaac Torres, the coaching staff removed him from the roster because of an injury.
“I am no longer playing for Cal; I was injured in Week 3 and missed a couple games. I stayed consistent with my recovery and worked with a specialist on my own dime. When I was cleared to return, I knew my body was not ready, I could tell something still wasn’t right. Football’s a physical game, and I couldn’t play the way I needed to or wanted to.”
The injury led Torres to redshirt. Cal did not allow the senior pass-catcher to do so.
“I made a huge decision after speaking with my family to redshirt and save my senior year. I was told by the coaches that if I chose to redshirt, I wouldn’t remain with the program. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.”
Torres later ended up in the hospital because of his injury.
“A few days later, I ended up in the ER twice where I was then diagnosed with pancreatitis and Intussusception caused by trauma from the injury. I’d been dealing with symptoms since my hit and knew something was wrong but didn’t know what it was.”
Despite all of these ongoing issues, the Golden Bears will not allow him to remain on the team. This is not an eligibility issue. It is a team decision.
“To be clear — I’m not ineligible, and I’ll be graduating with my Bachelors from Cal this December.”
Although I can understand the business side of things from Cal’s perspective, I still think this is a bad look for the program. Surely there was enough money in the budget to pay for one additional player who is still recovering from a catastrophic injury. To kick him to the curb seems cruel and inhumane.