Washington’s countdown to the 2026 football season rolls on with 40 days to go, and the jersey number at the center of the day brings together three very different Huskies: Dave Kopay, Mason Foster and Jerry Jensen.
Kopay was a two-year letterman for Washington in the early 60s, and at 6-foot-0 and 218 pounds, he carried the kind of build that let him match up with the men blocking for him. He closed out his Husky career with more than 500 yards of offense before moving on to a nine-season NFL run with five teams - San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington, Detroit and Green Bay.
In the pros, he posted nearly 900 rushing yards and three touchdowns, while also catching 77 passes for 593 yards and four more scores. Kopay’s football career is only part of his story, though.
In 1975, three years after retiring, he became the first former NFL player to announce that he was gay. His 1977 memoir, "The David Kopay Story," became a best-seller, and he later emerged as an outspoken advocate for gay athletes across sports.
Mason Foster arrived at Washington with a reputation as a tackling machine out of Seaside (Ca.) High School, but he had just one scholarship offer - from the Huskies.
Once he got on campus, he made it tough for the coaches to keep him on the sideline. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker left school as a four-year letterman with 376 tackles, 37 tackles-for-loss, 10 sacks and three interceptions.
He was one of the key figures in Washington’s turnaround between the Tyrone Willingham and Steve Sarkisian eras, and his 37-yard interception return against Arizona remains one of the wildest plays in Husky Stadium history.
After his senior year, Foster was named an All-American by several publications and also earned First Team All-League honors. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took him in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft, 84th overall, and he went on to play eight seasons in the league - four with Tampa Bay and four with Washington. Foster finished with 667 tackles, 41 tackles-for-loss and eight interceptions in 107 games, including 92 starts.
Jerry Jensen also left his mark in Seattle as a three-year starter and team captain. He wrapped up his Washington career with 142 tackles, 18 sacks and two interceptions, and his 42.5 career tackles-for-loss still sit ninth in program history. The Carolina Panthers picked him in the fifth round of the 1998 NFL Draft, 136th overall, and he played two seasons in the league.
In Other News...
Washington Just Chose A New Voice For Husky Football
Washington football is turning to a familiar voice for its next chapter in the booth. Elise Woodward, a former University of Washington womens basketball player and longtime Huskies football sideline reporter, has been named the programs lead play-by-play announcer, giving the broadcast a new centerpiece with deep ties to the school and its fans.
Woodward steps into the role after Tony Castricone left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and she will keep juggling her other work with the WNBAs Portland Fire and the Big Ten Network. For Washington, its a notable shift in a space that matters more than it sometimes gets credit for, because the person calling the games becomes part of the teams weekly identity. [Read more 🡒]