My favorite San Jose State Spartan

I could have gone into many directions with this article. Since I play golf, I could have chosen Ken Venturi or Juli Inkster who left SJSU as World Golf Hall of Famers.

Jeff Garcia comes to mind as well. He lead the 49ers to a couple of playoff appearances and had every Spartan passing record. Well until David Fales stepped on campus.

I do have my personal reasons for choosing Fales as my all time favorite Spartan.

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.

We did not attend the same high school. I went to Salinas High School while he went to Palma High five years before I did.

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. That was the Spartans first bowl win in six seasons.

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. 

We will see if Josh Love will follow in Fales’s footsteps. Love did sign with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent.