California Golden Bears Athletics
Cal football celebrates the life and legacy of Joe Roth at its 2026 season opener.
Inside Cal Football: Legacy
9/4/2026 10:38 AM | Football, Inside The Lair, Inside Cal Football
Joe Roth Embodied What A Cal Bear Is All About
Tom Roth, Joe Roth's older brother by 11 years, said one reason Joe's legacy has endured for a half-century is not because the Cal quarterback was in any way superhuman.
In a phone interview Monday, Tom said that some people "fabricated that maybe he's this person who dropped out of the sky and saved Berkeley. That's not true. …
"He was just a good-hearted, open-book guy. There was no big agenda about anything."
Without a big agenda, Joe Roth provided large, fond memories for his family, teammates, friends and the greater Cal community. Roth played brilliantly as a junior on a dynamic 1975 team before a recurrence of melanoma during his senior season ultimately caused his death on February 19, 1977.
He was 21 years old.
Beginning in October of '77, Cal designated its home matchup with either USC or UCLA as the Joe Roth Memorial Game. The Bears won the inaugural Roth Memorial Game, beating the 10th-ranked Trojans 17-14.
Because of Cal's move to the ACC in 2024 and with USC and UCLA in the Big Ten, there was not a Roth Memorial Game the past two seasons. It has returned for Saturday night's 2026 opener between the Bruins and Bears at Memorial Stadium.
Tom Roth, now 82 and living in Seattle, played quarterback for three seasons (1963-65) at Washington State. But after Joe transferred from Grossmont College, a junior college in the San Diego area, to Cal ahead of the 1975 season, Tom became a Bear Backer.
He recalled "great, enjoyable, sensational memories of all the games. We went to all of 'em. Then you'd go to Spenger's and have that fried shrimp," referring to the longtime fish restaurant just off University Avenue near Interstate 80.
Joe Roth became the starter for the Bears in their fourth game of '75. He went 7-1 as a starter that season, deftly orchestrating an offense that featured running back Chuck Muncie and wide receivers Steve Rivera and Wesley Walker.
The Bears led the nation in total offense in '75, the first and still only time they have done so. And they did it in the most balanced way possible: They gained 2,522 yards on the ground and 2,522 yards through the air.
Roth passed for 1,880 yards and 14 touchdowns, both of which led the Pac-8. He also topped the conference in completion percentage (55.8) and efficiency rating (139.9). Those numbers seem pedestrian in 2026, but a half-century ago, they were quite impressive.
He was considered a Heisman Trophy candidate heading into the 1976 season, but after excelling in the first two games, he learned that the cancer he thought he had beaten a few years earlier had returned.
Though his body was deteriorating, he made it through the season and revealed his diagnosis to only a close circle of family and friends. In the days before his death, Roth was at UCSF Medical Center, but he returned to his Berkeley apartment before he passed.
"Everybody stepped up. Everybody," Tom recalled, mentioning the professionals at UCSF and the teammates and friends who did their best to comfort Joe.
And Joe handled his plight "with a heck of a lot of courage and dignity," Tom said.
Joe Roth's No. 12 is the only retired number in program history. Travers Family Head Football Coach Tosh Lupoi wants his players to appreciate what Roth meant – and still means – to the Blue and Gold.
"If we have the majority of the team representing the principles and values of Joe Roth," Lupoi said, "we're probably going to be in a position to win a lot of games." Lupoi said Roth embodied "what a Cal Bear is all about."
On Saturday night, the Bears will wear jerseys that resemble the ones Roth and his teammates wore in '75. Those jerseys are known as Roth Throwbacks.
Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele said that wearing the Roth Throwbacks "on the field with my brothers is going to be exciting. We're just ready to represent this school and represent him and the legacy that he built when he was here."
In 1977, the Bears wore a patch commemorating Roth with the words "Faith," "Humility" and "Courage."
"Those are three good words for him," Tom Roth said.
In a phone interview Monday, Tom said that some people "fabricated that maybe he's this person who dropped out of the sky and saved Berkeley. That's not true. …
"He was just a good-hearted, open-book guy. There was no big agenda about anything."
Without a big agenda, Joe Roth provided large, fond memories for his family, teammates, friends and the greater Cal community. Roth played brilliantly as a junior on a dynamic 1975 team before a recurrence of melanoma during his senior season ultimately caused his death on February 19, 1977.
He was 21 years old.
Beginning in October of '77, Cal designated its home matchup with either USC or UCLA as the Joe Roth Memorial Game. The Bears won the inaugural Roth Memorial Game, beating the 10th-ranked Trojans 17-14.
Because of Cal's move to the ACC in 2024 and with USC and UCLA in the Big Ten, there was not a Roth Memorial Game the past two seasons. It has returned for Saturday night's 2026 opener between the Bruins and Bears at Memorial Stadium.
Tom Roth, now 82 and living in Seattle, played quarterback for three seasons (1963-65) at Washington State. But after Joe transferred from Grossmont College, a junior college in the San Diego area, to Cal ahead of the 1975 season, Tom became a Bear Backer.
He recalled "great, enjoyable, sensational memories of all the games. We went to all of 'em. Then you'd go to Spenger's and have that fried shrimp," referring to the longtime fish restaurant just off University Avenue near Interstate 80.
Joe Roth became the starter for the Bears in their fourth game of '75. He went 7-1 as a starter that season, deftly orchestrating an offense that featured running back Chuck Muncie and wide receivers Steve Rivera and Wesley Walker.
The Bears led the nation in total offense in '75, the first and still only time they have done so. And they did it in the most balanced way possible: They gained 2,522 yards on the ground and 2,522 yards through the air.
Roth passed for 1,880 yards and 14 touchdowns, both of which led the Pac-8. He also topped the conference in completion percentage (55.8) and efficiency rating (139.9). Those numbers seem pedestrian in 2026, but a half-century ago, they were quite impressive.
He was considered a Heisman Trophy candidate heading into the 1976 season, but after excelling in the first two games, he learned that the cancer he thought he had beaten a few years earlier had returned.
Though his body was deteriorating, he made it through the season and revealed his diagnosis to only a close circle of family and friends. In the days before his death, Roth was at UCSF Medical Center, but he returned to his Berkeley apartment before he passed.
"Everybody stepped up. Everybody," Tom recalled, mentioning the professionals at UCSF and the teammates and friends who did their best to comfort Joe.
And Joe handled his plight "with a heck of a lot of courage and dignity," Tom said.
Joe Roth's No. 12 is the only retired number in program history. Travers Family Head Football Coach Tosh Lupoi wants his players to appreciate what Roth meant – and still means – to the Blue and Gold.
"If we have the majority of the team representing the principles and values of Joe Roth," Lupoi said, "we're probably going to be in a position to win a lot of games." Lupoi said Roth embodied "what a Cal Bear is all about."
On Saturday night, the Bears will wear jerseys that resemble the ones Roth and his teammates wore in '75. Those jerseys are known as Roth Throwbacks.
Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele said that wearing the Roth Throwbacks "on the field with my brothers is going to be exciting. We're just ready to represent this school and represent him and the legacy that he built when he was here."
In 1977, the Bears wore a patch commemorating Roth with the words "Faith," "Humility" and "Courage."
"Those are three good words for him," Tom Roth said.
Players Mentioned
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