Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky MJ Tafisi Resurfaces as Transfer at Utah State

The inside linebacker abruptly quit after not playing a down against Oregon.
Dan Raley|
Ex-Husky MJ Tafisi Resurfaces as Transfer at Utah State
Ex-Husky MJ Tafisi Resurfaces as Transfer at Utah State

Inside linebacker MJ Tafisi resurfaced on signing day at Utah State, six weeks after abruptly leaving the University of Washington football team and entering the transfer portal, presumably in search of extended playing time. 

The 6-foot, 230-pound junior from Salt Lake City quit the team after not playing at all in a 26-16 loss to Oregon — a pivotal point in the Husky season that seemed to send the entire program in free fall.

He'll join a Utah State team after it faces Oregon State in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl, coming off a 10-3 season and the Mountain West championship. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. 

Also, former UW backup kicker Tim Horn signed with Rice after recently visiting the school. Horn likewise left the Huskies during the season. 

Tafisi played as a reserve in each of the UW's first eight games this past season, collecting 20 tackles and one pass break-up.

When standout linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio was lost for the season with an arm injury that required surgery, freshman Carson Bruener, not Tafisi, was promoted to starter. 

In 2019, Tafisi suffered a neck injury against Arizona, that made his neck and shoulders go numb for multiple months, sent him off the field strapped to a stretcher and forced him to miss the rest of that season. 

Playing 80 miles from home now, Tafisi will join a Utah State program that has produced high-quality linebackers, namely Bobby Wagner, who likewise played in Seattle but for the Seahawks and became the NFL's best at his position.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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