With Washington’s 2026 season opener now less than 40 days away, the Huskies’ countdown turns to No. 36 - a number worn by three linebackers whose UW careers each left a distinct mark: Joe Kelly, Don McKeta, and Azeem Victor.
Kelly arrived in Montlake and quickly became one of the most popular linebackers of the Don James and Jim Lambright era. From 1982 through 1985, he earned four letters and piled up 365 tackles, along with 12 tackles for loss and three sacks.
He also tied for the team lead in interceptions in 1984 with five, helped Washington knock off No. 2 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl as a junior, and closed his career with All-Conference and All-Coast honors as a senior.
Kelly was also named the team MVP. His production pushed him into history, too: the Cincinnati Bengals made him the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft, making him the first Husky linebacker ever taken in the first round.
Kelly went on to play four seasons in Cincinnati, three with the New York Jets, and then one-year stops with the Los Angeles Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, and Philadelphia Eagles. He finished his NFL career with 542 tackles, six sacks, and six interceptions.
McKeta’s path to Washington looked different, but his impact was just as real. A junior college transfer who had served in the Korean War, he played from 1958 to 1960 and became a two-way force for Jim Owens, lining up at running back and defensive back while helping the Huskies win back-to-back Rose Bowls for the 1959 and 1960 seasons.
He won the Guy Flaherty Award twice as the team’s MVP, picked up All-League honors twice, and was named All-Coast in 1960. That same year, he was also the Seattle PI Sports Star of the Year.
Owens once summed him up this way: "(McKeta) was one of the select few that always played football as it was meant to be played." After his Washington career, McKeta was drafted by the New York Giants, but he chose instead to sign with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, a move viewed as the better deal at the time.
His rookie season ended halfway through when a neck injury forced him to retire.
Victor’s time at Washington ended in a way nobody wanted, but his influence on the 2016 team was undeniable. The Pomona, Calif. native played in 42 games and made 26 starts over four seasons, finishing with 197 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks.
He led the defense in tackles in 2015 and was building toward a huge junior year before a broken leg against USC in week 11 knocked him out for the rest of the season. Even with four games missed, he still earned First-Team All-Pac-12 honors and finished third on the team in tackles behind Budda Baker and Keishawn Bierria.
Victor was later selected in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. After that came stints with the Buccaneers and Seahawks, then attempts to catch on with the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football and the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League in 2019.
This May, he signed with the Alphas of The Spring League, a pro showcase and development league.
In Other News...
Washington Fall Camp Changes Just Put Several Roster Battles In Focus
Fall camp always brings a fresh round of roster housekeeping, but Washingtons latest update did more than tidy up the media guide. The Huskies refreshed player heights, weights and jersey numbers ahead of camp, giving a first real look at how the roster has changed since spring. For a team trying to sort out its depth chart, even those small details can matter, especially when a handful of players show notable movement on the scale and several newcomers are now wearing different numbers.
The number changes are part of the intrigue for a group that is still taking shape at multiple spots, with true freshmen among those getting new assignments and veterans also settling into updated looks. The measurements and weights do not settle any position battles on their own, but they do hint at where Washington sees players fitting as camp opens. For fans watching the roster churn, it is the kind of quiet update that can reveal which jobs are genuinely up for grabs. [Read more 🡒]