Jahvid Best

High School

Jahvid Best attended Salesian High School in Richmond, California. His team won the state championship during his junior year, in which he rushed for 1,495 yards on 138 attempts, including 20 touchdowns. His senior year, he rushed for a single season record 3,325 yards and 48 touchdowns. He also ran track in high school, finishing with personal best times of 10.36 and 20.65 seconds in the 100- and 200-meter dash, respectively. He was offered scholarships by Arizona, Arizona State, California, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, USC and Washington before committing to Cal.

College Career

In his time at Cal, Best was regarded as one of the most explosive players in the nation for his blazing speed and ability to make quick cuts and catch the ball out of the backfield.

2007

During his freshman year at California, Best rushed for 221 yards on 29 carries, including two touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 174 yards with one touchdown and was named the teams most valuable freshman and most valuable special teams player for the year.
 

2008

Jahvid Best's sophomore season was his breakout campaign. As a starter, he rushed 194 times for 1,580 yards, a season average of 8.1 yards per carry. He scored 15 rushing touchdowns, and added one more as he caught 27 passes for 246 yards.

On December 6, 2008, Best became the first player in California history to run for over 300 yards in a single game, when he posted 311 rush yards against the University of Washington in the final game of the regular season. He had two other games with over 200 rushing yards, and four other games with at least 100. He went on to rush for 186 yards in that season's Emerald Bowl, and was named the Offensive MVP.
 

2009

Best had five games with over 100 yards rushing in his nine starts before he was injured against Oregon State on November 7. He missed the final four games of the season and finished with 867 yards on 141 carries, including a 93-yard run against UCLA, and 12 touchdowns. He caught 22 passes for 213 yards with 4 touchdowns.
 

Records

• California record for most rushing yards in a single game: 311
• California record for most all-purpose yards in a single season: 2,247
• Emerald Bowl record for most rushing yards: 186
• Modern-era California record for most rushing touchdowns in a single game: 5

 

Professional Career

On April 22, 2010, Jahvid Best was selected in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, with the 30th overall pick by the Detroit Lions. He was signed to a five-year contract and wears jersey number 44 for the team. When asked about the pick, Lions head coach Jim Schwartz remarked, "Some people watch adult videos on their computer... I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That's what gets me going."
 
At the end of his rookie 2010 season, Best had accumulated 555 rushing yards on 171 carries with 4 touchdowns. He also contributed 487 receiving yards on 58 receptions with 2 touchdowns, including a blazing 75-yard sprint in week 2 of the season.

In Video Games

Jahvid Best appeared in three iterations of EA Sports' NCAA Football franchise before appearing in Madden NFL 11.