Husky Roster Review: Cam Sirmon Wants to Play, Doesn't Matter Where
Walk-ons come and walk-ons go, most holding onto a long-odds daydream of playing a significant amount of football for the University of Washington.
At last count, the Huskies had 29 non-scholarship players on the roster, following the spring practice departures of linebacker Styles Siva-Tu'u and cornerback Charlie Fuller. Seventeen of these remaining souls have never appeared in a UW game.
In seasons past, the occasional walk-on player has admitted out loud he knew playing time was out of the question but turned out for Husky football simply to be a part of the scene, receive cool equipment handouts he couldn't get anywhere else and share in what were annual bowl-game festivities.
This would not describe Camden Sirmon, the third from his family to join the Huskies and the last to remain following the transfers in recent seasons of his cousins — All-Pac-12 linebacker Jackson Sirmon (California) and starting quarterback candidate Jacob Sirmon (Central Michigan, Northern Colorado).
This Sirmon is the first from his clan to come to Montlake without a scholarship, but he doesn't appear to be leaving in frustration anytime soon if that doesn't change. He's just going to great lengths to try and make something happen in his college football pursuits.
He began his career as a UW quarterback, moved to running back last season and spent this spring at wide receiver.
Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Cam Sirmon, who wears No. 18 all to himself now that Siva-Tu'u has departed, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.
Similar to the other Sirmons, Camden is relentless competitor. When COVID shut down his Wenatchee High School football team in 2020, he immediately transferred to Sentinel in Missoula, Montana, and led it to a state championship — the school's first in 48 years.
Offered a University of Montana scholarship on top of that, Sirmon chose to turn down the financial aid and walk on at the UW.
As a freshman, he even got on the field and played during the 2021 Apple Cup, getting duly rewarded against Washington State with special-teams responsibility on kickoff returns and one snap running the option at quarterback.
Even while battling an injury that cost him much of last season, Sirmon played in four games at the beginning and the end, against Kent State, Portland State, Michigan State and WSU, hitting for the "state" cycle. He rushed the ball three times for 12 yards against the Big Sky school.
So now Sirmon is a wide receiver after joining arguably one of the nation's most competitive position groups. He struggled some in spring ball, in one practice alone dropping three passes, but he hasn't backed down.
This overly competitive player from his highly competitive family — his father and two uncles played college football, with uncle Peter now serving as the California defensive coordinator — is determined to make his own breaks and not be a daydreamer.
CAMDEN SIRMON FILE
Service: Sirmon is running at the high end of the walk-on spectrum with five UW game appearances so far in two seasons. Some non-scholarship players would call that a generous career. From his coaches last fall, Sirmon earned offensive scout team player of the week against Kent State and WSU, and special-teams scout player of the week for his work leading up to the Apple Cup. In 2021, he was the season scout team MVP.
Stats: Taking handoffs from the since departed Sam Huard, Sirmon gained those 12 yards rushing on three carries against Portland State, with a long run of 7.
Role: To be honest, this guy, if he wanted to maximize his football output, should be in the Big Sky, same as Huard, and quarterbacking a team such as Montana or Eastern Washington. His father John Sirmon played at Idaho. His brother Cy was a second-team, all-league center at Montana. But don't tell Cam that. It more than likely won't satisfy him.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12
Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3
Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter
