The Details: Both Then and Now, Huskies are All In
September 29, 2016 | Football, General
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
Every sports fan has a moment, that time in their lives when a favorite team became exactly that, when someone's preferred colors started to match a jersey and when each win began to mean a little more while the losses lingered.
For me, it was Jan. 1, 1992. I was 10. Washington was playing Michigan in the Rose Bowl. And, 25 years later, it was that game from Washington's 1991 national championship season that was the topic of conversation during an interview with Dave Hoffmann.
A linebacker on that team, Hoffmann provided a deeper context to a memory that centered on one play.
For the 10-year-old watching the game on TV, one highlight stood out – Mario Bailey's 38-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter of the 34-14 win. But it was more than the catch. It was the celebration that really caught my attention, the Heisman trophy pose in the end zone.
It punctuated the win. I was all in.
As soon as Bailey struck the pose, I decided my future was in purple and gold. Well, while it wasn't quite in the cards to play for the Huskies – marginally athletic, 5-foot-10, left-handed quarterbacks from a wing-T offense aren't a great fit for Division I scholarships – more than two decades after that play, that game and that season, here I am, creating content for the team.
And, now in my fourth season with Washington – three spent around Chris Petersen, his staff and players – while talking to Hoffmann and several of his teammates from 1991, listening to the things that made that group champions, they presented parallels to this current generation of Huskies.
"Everybody was a leader," Hoffman said. "Everybody was wired the same way. It just worked."
Tyrone Rodgers added, "we believed in the brother next to us."
Talk to the players on this year's roster and the words may be different, but the meaning holds true. After Lavon Coleman's 181-yard performance at Arizona, he repeatedly praised his teammates. Dante Pettis caught the go-ahead touchdown in overtime, but he credited Jake Browning for the pass, while the quarterback returned the compliment to his receiver.
Like linebacker Azeem Victor said in a tweet after last week's win: "This team is special man. ... That's how you fight."
Go through the roster, from the Huskies' collection of playmaking defensive backs to the offensive line and they talk about togetherness. Sure, teams across the country talk about the bond they share with their teammates, but like Petersen said in his Monday press conference, this team is "always all in."
"We're confident in each other, so we play confident," safety JoJo McIntosh said before the season started.
The players on that 1991 team faced their share of adversity during their years in the program, but they learned from early setbacks. The tests they faced allowed the team to move forward. And now, 25 years later, Washington is following a similar path.
"They had to fight through adversity last year," said Donald Jones, a linebacker on the 1991 team. "They would lose a game, but they would come back and win. They got knocked down, but they got back up. Those are the things that are going to shape your character as a team."
Since Petersen's arrival, he has talked about O.K.G.s and his Built For Life program. He has built a team around guys who believe in the system. They trust the plan.
But nothing is guaranteed. These Huskies are still writing their story. So far, when it comes to the way this group goes about its business, this team resembles the model that symbolized Washington at its peak.
Past players are paying attention.
"They've got a team of character guys and strong leadership," Jones said. "I can see similarities. That's why I think those guys are right on the cusp of being a championship-caliber team."
I don't know how this season will end, but as someone whose football fandom started 25 years ago with the 1991 team that will be honored during Friday's game against Stanford, I look forward to the future.
Win or lose, this is proving to be a team Washington fans can be proud of both on and off the field. These players are making their own set of memories, creating moments that will inspire more 10 year olds to dream of one day wearing purple and gold.
"We all feel that coach Pete is the right guy with the right staff and the right mentality," Hoffmann said. "He has our full support and we're excited to watch these guys."
