This former Kennedy Catholic standout is making an impact for Cal — on and off the field
Justin Richard Baker has always made an impact as a leader — both on the football field and off of it.
“You just can’t say enough about him,” Sheldon Cross, his former football coach for four seasons at Kennedy Catholic High School, said this week. “He’s just an extraordinary person and an extraordinary leader.”
Baker, now a slot receiver at California, was a standout athlete for the Lancers during his high school career, and during his senior season in 2019, played a prominent role in helping guide Kennedy Catholic football to an 11-1 record and appearance in the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
He was a two-time 4A North Puget Sound League first-team pick, and as a senior, finished with 1,276 all-purpose yards as Kennedy’s top kick returner, and a trusted option both out of the backfield and at receiver, and scored 11 touchdowns.
“He seemed to have a knack to make plays when we really needed a big play,” Cross said. “And, I think a good leader is someone that can do what’s needed when you need it the most. And he was that player for us.”
His production his final two seasons with the Lancers — when he piled up more than 2,700 all-purpose yards and 27 total touchdowns — earned him a three-star ranking, and caught the attention of several FBS programs.
But, Baker also had an important role away from the football field at Kennedy, where he excelled in the classroom and was a leader in the school’s student government.
“He was a leader in the school too, and a leader in the community,” Cross said. “He’s the type of young man that can do anything he wants in life. Whatever he wants to do, he’ll be successful at.”
These days, Baker, who signed with Cal following his senior season, is farther down the West Coast, where he is now in his second season playing for the Golden Bears.
And, like he did at Kennedy, he’s making positive strides both on the football field and off.
On the field, he’s beginning to see two seasons of preparation at the college level produce results.
Baker arrived in Berkeley in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the summer of 2020, after spending much of the spring completing his high school degree after classes were moved online, and preparing tirelessly for the upcoming football season.
“It was huge, because it just added so much confidence, and I felt like I was at a good place with my weight, and I was able to do receiver-specific work as well, so I was super excited to get to Cal because I just felt like I was in a great place,” he said.
Through his work with Ford Sports Performance, Baker also had the opportunity to learn from current college and NFL players before heading to Cal.
“I feel like, more than anything, you learn the mindset you need to have to get to the next level, and more than that to be successful at the next level, and just to be successful in general,” Baker said. “So, it’s less about how do I run this route? Or how do I do this,? But more, how do I attack the game? Or how do I get better? Or how do I stay motivated?”
Baker’s first season in Berkeley played out as it did for others across college football — in a shortened season without fans. But, he did see the field as a true freshman, playing snaps late in Cal’s season-opener against UCLA.
After getting in a full offseason of work with the Bears, spring football and a more complete fall camp than programs were able to have last season, Baker has now carved out a starting role on special teams, where he is a gunner on punt coverage, and has also seen an increase in workload on offense.
“The guys who have been here definitely worked their tail off this summer — you saw it a lot,” Cal quarterback Chase Garbers told reporters in Berkeley in August. “Justin Baker in particular, whether it was grabbing me after workouts or just watching film, coming in, texting me saying, ‘Hey, can we take a look at this?’ He’s done a really good job. He’s got a really strong work ethic.”
Baker caught his first three career passes last weekend, hauling in each of his targets from Garbers in Cal’s first win of the season over Sacramento State, to finish with 23 yards and a pair of first downs.
“The first one was a scramble drill,” Baker said. “The play was originally kind of supposed to go to me, I was one of the primary reads, but the defense didn’t give us the look we were exactly looking for, and then Chase started to roll out to the right, so I just tried to stay in his vision, went upfield a little bit and then got towards the sideline.
“ … I saw there was a guy running at him, so I knew he didn’t have a ton of time to get me the ball, so I tried to just make myself available, and then the ball, when he threw it was like going slow motion.”
But, Baker caught it, and picked up 13 yards and a first down. The next play, Garbers went right back to him, and he picked up another 10.
“I caught it, juked a guy and then got another first down, and then we scored on that drive so it feels nice to know you contributed to the team success,” Baker said.
Baker has played 28 snaps this season, per Pro Football Focus, between offense and special teams, and now that he has made his first career catches, will continue to look for ways to make an impact on offense as the Bears begin Pac-12 play.
“Right now it’s just take advantage of every opportunity I get,” he said. “If I’m going to be on offense for eight plays, make sure I stand out those eight plays, so then the next game I can get 12, and the next game I can get 15.”
The Bears open the conference season Saturday evening in Seattle against a Huskies team that includes three of Baker’s former high school teammates in linebacker Sav’ell Smalls, quarterback Sam Huard and wide receiver Jabez Tinae. Baker will also have family and friends in the stands.
“Always a little extra motivation,” he said, “being in front of more family, being in front of more people you know, it’s always a little bit more fun.”
Off the field, Baker is also creating opportunities for success, including taking the steps to begin his degree in legal studies, a field he said he is excited to start taking classes in next spring.
Baker said he originally planned to study business at Cal, but later decided he would pursue legal studies, as people across the country have taken stands against racial and social injustice.
“I just started feeling like, what was something where I feel like I’d be able to make a positive impact in my community? So, that’s what drew me towards it,” Baker said. “Because I had a lot of like anger and sadness, and all of these emotions, and I felt helpless and I was like, what can I do? I felt like a career through law would be something that I would be able to use to help.”
He believes the strong academic programs at Cal give him an opportunity to continue to learn, grow and help others.
“Someone that I’ve looked up to a lot is Malcolm X,” he said. “I felt like he was a super intelligent person, and no one could really take anything away from him, because he was just so smart. And that is something that I strive to be — is just to learn and to educate myself, because once you learn something, someone can’t take that away from you.
“That’s why it’s also awesome to go to this school, because we get such a high level of education. I feel like the more I know about certain concepts, and in certain ways that I can help people, and just learn more of the history about race in America, and why some of the things that happened, happened, and how change happened in the past, and how we can do it again.
“Learning all those things I feel like is empowering me to be able to end up being a positive impact in the community.”
Which is something those around him know he has always done.
“He’s a very wonderful person, and a friend of everybody,” Cross said. “He can relate to everybody, and everyone feels comfortable talking to him and sharing with him. He’s an amazing person.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 10:27 AM with the headline "This former Kennedy Catholic standout is making an impact for Cal — on and off the field."
