Husky Football Was Worth the Wait for Makell Esteen

Safety Makell Esteen is one of just three players who remain from the 2020 University of Washington football team, and he's the only guy who's still around who drew game time during that COVID-shortened season.

That was a football lifetime ago.

When Jimmy Lake was a not-for-long Husky coach. When wide receiver Puka Nacua was a short-term teammate who he might cover in practice. And when his high-school teammate and cornerback Elijah Jackson was never from him in the UW secondary.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Esteen from Hawthorne, California, has been a 10-game starter this season somone who ranks fourth in the team in tackles with 46 and shares the team lead in interceptions with two others with a pair of picks.

On Saturday night, he'll play against UCLA in the Rose Bowl back in his native Southern California, as one of 30 Huskies who can make that hometown claim, with a chance to show family and friends up close how everything has turned out for him.

Before the season began, Esteen was asked about the prospects of becoming a sixth-year UW player and he gave a somewhat surprising answer -- that it was his fault he was still around and hadn't concluded his career earlier.

On Tuesday, he backtracked from that honest assessment to indicate that everything had worked out just fine for him.

"I'm actually happy to be here," Esteen said. "I enjoy being with this team. Big thanks to coach [Jedd] Fisch and them to keep me here."

Makell Esteen is in his sixth season at the UW. | Dave Sizer photo

When Esteen arrived at the UW, highly regarded offensive lineman Geirean Hatchett and determined walk-on linebacker Anthony Ward were in his recruiting class. They're still Huskies. But unlike him, they left and came back, with Hatchett briefly playing for Oklahoma and Ward spending two seasons at Arizona.

Esteen also came in with Jackson, his teammate from Lawndale High School, and someone who has experienced the definitive highs and lows of college football. Jackson was a 15-game starter for the Huskies' national championship runner-up team in 2023, only to become a reserve corner after Fisch's coaching staff took over last year.

Jackson has since transferred to TCU, where he played in one game this season and suffered an unspecified injury that has kept him sidelined thereafter.

Makell Esteen has started every UW game this season. | Dave Sizer photo

As his career winds down, Esteen has appeared in 43 UW games and started 17 times, with his college debut coming in 2020 against Arizona, pre-Jedd Fisch.

He's done exactly what fellow safeties Kam Fabiculanan and Alex Cook did before him, which is become a full-fledged starter as a senior after bouncing around the depth chart. Certainly, he's not beating himself up anymore for not making things happen any sooner in his Montlake career.

"I'm having a lot of fun," Esteen said. "This is a good team -- it was worth it, it was worth it."

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