Husky Football Has Been Fab for Kam Fab

The veteran safety was one of the first to tell Jedd Fisch he was committed to the UW.

Kam Fabiculanan takes a breather during the CFP title game. / Skylar Lin Visuals

All sorts of University of Washington players moved on after the national championship bid, headed to the NFL, the SEC or medical retirement, with a grueling 15-game season bringing a sense of finality to their time with the Huskies.

For the latter reason, safety Kamren Fabiculanan had every reason to call it a Montlake career.

In his fifth season in Seattle, he played in the first two games of the 2023 schedule, got injured and sat out the Michigan State road trip. He played four more, got re-injured and missed the Stanford game in Palo Alto. He returned for two more outings and became injured yet a third time, sat out against Oregon State in Corvallis and returned for the Huskies' final four games.

Passing him in hallways during the season, he often wore a boot or a sling.

However, leaving the Huskies was the last thing on the mind of the guy they call Kam Fab, who's sort of a flamboyant player with his Filipino-American heritage, his long and lean build, hair flowing out of the back of his helmet, heavily tattooed arms and hellbent football approach.

He wasted no time in letting new coach Jedd Fisch how he felt about his place in the local college football universe.

"It was funny, I actually came up to Fisch and I told him like I'm coming to see you because I want to be the first one that's part of the team, because keeping the tradition here, and keeping the winning tradition here, is the standard," Fabiculanan said. "He didn't know me at the time, but we've gotten to know each other."

The 6-foot-1, 196-pound sixth-year senior from Camarillo, California, returns for one more trip through Montlake having started 11 of 34 games, including a pair against Fisch's Arizona teams.

While the CFP title game didn't turn out the way the UW wanted, Fabiculanan provided a memorable moment when he went in for a tackle against Michigan, had his helmet pop off and he kept running down the field yelling and screaming, hair flying all around, hatless.

"I hit the guy and my helmet came off," he replayed. "I was pretty pumped up and trying to rally the team."

Kam Fabiculanan lost his helmet in the CFP title game against Michigan. / Thomas Shea/USA TODAY Sports

Back for more, Kam Fab finds himself teaming at safety early on with junior Makell Esteen and trying to mentor sophomore Tristan Dunn.

He finds himself answering to a former NFL safety in Vinnie Sunseri as his position coach and to a Belichick in Steve as his defensive coordinator, giving him great hope he can be a pro player someday.

"He's definitely a funny, funny dude.," Fabiculanan said of the younger Belichick. "You look at his dad and see his mannerisms. It's been good in having a creative connection with Steve."

Unlike some of his departed teammates, he felt so comfortable at the UW, everything about it, that he couldn't leave. After losing to Michigan, he took a week off, reaffirmed his commitment and got back to work as the new staff took over.

Assuming a needed role over as a team leader, Fabiculanan traded words and handshakes last weekend on the sideline with former Husky and NFL All-America defensive tackle Danny Shelton, who came out for a look at the latest UW players and got inspired by a few stops.

As he prepares for a final Husky season, he celebrates the moment by quoting the first of his four UW football coaches, Chris Petersen. He's been around the program a long, time, but it still doesn't feel like it.

"It went by fast," Fabiculanan said. "Coach Pete had a saying, 'The days are long, but your time is short here.' I took that for granted, but look at me now."

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