We’re 63 days out from the start of the 2025 football season, and Washington’s August 30 opener against Colorado State gives the Huskies another reason to keep the countdown rolling. In the spirit of the jersey-by-jersey look back, a few familiar names stand out from the program’s history.
Jeff Toews sits near the top of that list. Don James called him one of the best linemen he ever coached, and it’s easy to see why.
Toews started 31 games at guard from 1976 through 1978, earned First Team All-Pac 8 honors as a junior in 1977, and helped push Washington to a 10-2 season that ended with a 27-20 win over Michigan in the 1978 Rose Bowl. At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, he was the kind of blocker who made life easier for Joe Steele on sweep and dive plays.
After his Husky career, Toews was taken in the second round, 53rd overall, of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins and played seven seasons in the league.
Norm Dicks brought a different kind of profile to Montlake, but his football resume was plenty strong. He was a standout guard and linebacker for Washington in 1961 and 1962, and he also served as a backup on the 1960 team that went 10-1 and beat No.
1 Minnesota 17-7 in the Rose Bowl to claim a national title. He finished his Husky career after the 1962 season as a two-year letterman.
Dicks later became far better known for his political career, representing Washington’s sixth congressional district from 1976 until his retirement in 2012. In Washington, D.C., he served as the ranking member on the Appropriations committee.
James Kirkpatrick also earned his place in the program’s history as a key backup and three-year letter winner from 1982 through 1984, and he came away with an Orange Bowl ring.
Ted Markov’s run at Washington stretched from 1933 to 1935, when he was a three-year letter winner at end and a key runner and receiver on Jim Phelan’s teams that went 16-8-1. Markov came out of Chicago with options from several Big Ten schools and the University of Chicago, but he chose Washington after being recruited by Dr.
Alfred Strauss, a former Huskies tailback who was attending medical school at the University of Chicago. Markov also recruited his younger brother, , who later became a standout for the Huskies on Montlake.
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Censere Gaylords choice is drawing plenty of attention because Washington has stayed firmly in the mix through the stretch run, even with his roots tied to the Southeast. The Huskies could also be waiting on another big announcement that day from four-star offensive lineman DaJohn Yarborough, which would make July 11 a potentially huge recruiting checkpoint in Seattle no matter how the cornerback race plays out. [Read more 🡒]