This clip also reminds me of how good Jerramy Stevens was. He had some missed games for injury and off field stuff but from a physical standpoint I am not sure there's been another TE at uw that put that much pressure on a defense.
LB's and DB's look like dwarfs next to him and he had a great catch radius and could run.
Was just recently talking about how Stevens was our best TE physically that we ever had - was like a bigger, more fluid, tougher ASJ. Makes sense he went first round after barely playing his last year of college.
2000 had some absolute freak on the field guys who were problems off the field in him Pharms, and Vontoure. Great part is we cleaned those types of guys out of the program but then most other schools probably didn't.
UW was fortunate to get that Oregon State team early and in Husky Stadium. I would argue the two teams which played for the title might not even have been two of the three best teams in the country. Florida State getting in as a one-loss team who lost to one-loss Miami who lost to one-loss Washington is a prime example of why the format needed to expand.
Oklahoma's defense and secondary was nails that year. They were legit as the right stoops was still making a name for himself. FSU was good but no better than the 3 pac schools and Miami. Miami probably should have played Oklahoma that year.
I will say one thing UW had the other top schools that year didn't was a DUDE at QB. I feel like the Big 12, and Big 10 and SEC a bit at that point were still lost in the past in their passing games so a lot of those teams struggled when they had to a play a QB/offense that could throw the ball at all and their secondaries made hay locking down QBs that made Weinke, Heupepl, and Jason White types look elite.
In terms of "cleaning out", while true of Pharms, I think it's not quite fair to lay that label on Vontoure. AV had been formally diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. We? and the rest of social media throw that term around like an all-encompassing explanation for crazy behavior, but in real life people with actual BP are very sick and wind up with weeks/months-long stays in the hospital trying to get a wickedly complicated cocktail of psychotropic medications dialed in for them. I don't think AV ever had that kind of "all hands on deck" support and much was expected of him in the program because he was such a freak athlete. Winds up sleeping outside, loss of any semblance of structure he had, and then the way he died was super shitty.
I think the best way to remember Vontoure is to marvel at what he was able to give Husky nation in light of what he was dealing with. That we? got to have him for the time we did was nothing short of miraculous. BP people really don't function within normal societal bounds without a serious medical intervention and they almost always wind up killing themselves when coming down from a manic episode knowing they're about to dip down deep.
I haven't seen that many guys who are legitimately over 6 feet tall with that kind of change of direction ability and he was physical af because he was a thick 6'1", not like the typical lanky string bean tall corners. He would, IMO, have taken one of the corner spots on any Husky team ever and would have had a very nice pro career. Moved like 5'9", tackled like 6'1".
It's very fair to separate guys like Vontoure from Pharms and Stevens and maybe even Stevens and Pharms. I think I remember Baird said Vontoure was the most talented guy he ever had at any position and I believe it. He easily could be up there with Milloy and Budda as our best DBs if he doesn't have mental illness.
That 2000 team is just so full of great story lines I'd give anything for a prime 30 For 30 level documentary on it but that will never happen. I stopped watching a lot of them because they've done boring ass who cares shit I even gave tries with stuff like Dude, Perfect and some gaming shit.
Forgot about the circumstances of Vontoure's death. Definitely something that would have drawn much more attention these days. Also forgot he:
had six ints, two for TDs in 99 as a fucking sophomore
He still had another year in 2001
Got me thinking on more 2000 stuff too.
Forgot Tui never redshirted. Thanks Bloke Huard for keeping us from having another season with him in 2001.
I also forgot about Ossim Hatem. Remember him seeming like he was going to be a dude and then medically retiring. Found an article from 10 years ago which claims he was 6'3 285 and ran an electric timed 4.6.
Comments
This clip also reminds me of how good Jerramy Stevens was. He had some missed games for injury and off field stuff but from a physical standpoint I am not sure there's been another TE at uw that put that much pressure on a defense.
LB's and DB's look like dwarfs next to him and he had a great catch radius and could run.
In that Rose Bowl Purdue had an all American tight end and Stevens outplayed him big time. No contest on ability
Fuck you guys. Now I'm thinking Arbys.
Was just recently talking about how Stevens was our best TE physically that we ever had - was like a bigger, more fluid, tougher ASJ. Makes sense he went first round after barely playing his last year of college.
2000 had some absolute freak on the field guys who were problems off the field in him Pharms, and Vontoure. Great part is we cleaned those types of guys out of the program but then most other schools probably didn't.
That would have been fascinating
UW was fortunate to get that Oregon State team early and in Husky Stadium. I would argue the two teams which played for the title might not even have been two of the three best teams in the country. Florida State getting in as a one-loss team who lost to one-loss Miami who lost to one-loss Washington is a prime example of why the format needed to expand.
Oklahoma's defense and secondary was nails that year. They were legit as the right stoops was still making a name for himself. FSU was good but no better than the 3 pac schools and Miami. Miami probably should have played Oklahoma that year.
There’s a case for 3 other teams to be there ahead of FSU. That was one of the weirder BCS slots I can remember.
I will say one thing UW had the other top schools that year didn't was a DUDE at QB. I feel like the Big 12, and Big 10 and SEC a bit at that point were still lost in the past in their passing games so a lot of those teams struggled when they had to a play a QB/offense that could throw the ball at all and their secondaries made hay locking down QBs that made Weinke, Heupepl, and Jason White types look elite.
In terms of "cleaning out", while true of Pharms, I think it's not quite fair to lay that label on Vontoure. AV had been formally diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. We? and the rest of social media throw that term around like an all-encompassing explanation for crazy behavior, but in real life people with actual BP are very sick and wind up with weeks/months-long stays in the hospital trying to get a wickedly complicated cocktail of psychotropic medications dialed in for them. I don't think AV ever had that kind of "all hands on deck" support and much was expected of him in the program because he was such a freak athlete. Winds up sleeping outside, loss of any semblance of structure he had, and then the way he died was super shitty.
I think the best way to remember Vontoure is to marvel at what he was able to give Husky nation in light of what he was dealing with. That we? got to have him for the time we did was nothing short of miraculous. BP people really don't function within normal societal bounds without a serious medical intervention and they almost always wind up killing themselves when coming down from a manic episode knowing they're about to dip down deep.
I haven't seen that many guys who are legitimately over 6 feet tall with that kind of change of direction ability and he was physical af because he was a thick 6'1", not like the typical lanky string bean tall corners. He would, IMO, have taken one of the corner spots on any Husky team ever and would have had a very nice pro career. Moved like 5'9", tackled like 6'1".
It's very fair to separate guys like Vontoure from Pharms and Stevens and maybe even Stevens and Pharms. I think I remember Baird said Vontoure was the most talented guy he ever had at any position and I believe it. He easily could be up there with Milloy and Budda as our best DBs if he doesn't have mental illness.
That 2000 team is just so full of great story lines I'd give anything for a prime 30 For 30 level documentary on it but that will never happen. I stopped watching a lot of them because they've done boring ass who cares shit I even gave tries with stuff like Dude, Perfect and some gaming shit.
I know a certain book they could base it on
The Bruce Lee 30 for 30 was the last one that was worth a shit.
I haven't watched them in years but the one on Marcus DuPree was outstanding
He also died from an “officer involved” strangling. Don’t twist!
Forgot about the circumstances of Vontoure's death. Definitely something that would have drawn much more attention these days. Also forgot he:
Got me thinking on more 2000 stuff too.
Forgot Tui never redshirted. Thanks Bloke Huard for keeping us from having another season with him in 2001.
I also forgot about Ossim Hatem. Remember him seeming like he was going to be a dude and then medically retiring. Found an article from 10 years ago which claims he was 6'3 285 and ran an electric timed 4.6.
The whole 2000 season.