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Inside The Huskies

Grad Transfer QB Jamie Newman Opts Out, Once Considered Washington

The former Wake Forest player leaves Georgia, where he was competing with USC transfer JT Daniels, because of COVID-19 concerns.
Dan Raley|
Grad Transfer QB Jamie Newman Opts Out, Once Considered Washington
Grad Transfer QB Jamie Newman Opts Out, Once Considered Washington

Jamie Newman, while graduate-transfer shopping, mentioned in passing that he had considered the University of Washington as a possible destination, but the Wake Forest quarterback wound up choosing Georgia.

In the end, he never played a down for the Bulldogs.

And, though the football season has been postponed in the Pac-12, people in Seattle might be feeling like they dodged an uncomfortable situation.

Newman on Wednesday opted out of the coming season for Georgia because of COVID-19 concerns, making his announcement on social media. 

"I would like to thank Coach (Kirby) Smart for extending the opportunity of me to be part of the University of Georgia football program," Newman wrote on Twitter. "Although my time  has been short I've built some great relationships and I've had a chance to continue my development."

Newman, at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, was in competition with USC transfer JT Daniels for the Georgia starting job. For that matter, UW followers had hoped that Daniels might consider coming to Washington, but there's no indication he ever looked into it. Newman reportedly will train for an NFL career. 

Washington, once Stanford's KJ Costello and Newman turned to SEC rivals Mississippi State and Georgia, respectively, picked up senior grad transfer Kevin Thomson from Sacramento State as insurance because the program had only sophomores or younger competing for the No. 1 job.

Had Newman committed to the Huskies, he would have left them without a veteran quarterback going into whatever season lies ahead, which was never the plan. 

Once the UW resumes workouts it will choose a starter from among sophomore Jacob Sirmon, last season's backup; redshirt freshman Dylan Morris, who is yet to play; freshman Ethan Garbers, new to campus; and Thomson, who actually is a seventh-year player because of injuries. 

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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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