Husky Roster Review: Kam Fab Stays Loyal to the Cause

The sxth-year UW safety came back to be a team leader.

Kam Fabiculanan upends former UW teammate Taj Davis in the Cal game. / Skylar Lin Visuals

When we last saw him in the heat of the battle for the University of Washington football team, Kam Fabiculanan was hatless, with his shiny gold helmet rolling down the field in Houston's NRG Stadium during the CFP national championship game.

Rather than retrieve it right away, the Husky safety took several steps forward and literally screamed his head off, thus making every photographer in the building point his or her lens in his direction.

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

Kam Fabiculanan seems to enjoy himself on the football field. / Skylar Lin Visuals

While Fabiculanan's efforts were admirable, they couldn't prevent a 34-13 loss to the Big Ten powerhouse, with UW players scattering in the aftermath to the NFL, Alabama and other transfer portal points of interest.

Five months later, the 6-foot-1, 196-pound safety known as Kam Fab is still trying to pull the Huskies together, only forJedd Fisch's new coaching staff, and extend the good feelings generated by that memorable 14-1 season.

"It was funny because I actually went up to Fisch and told him, 'I'm coming up to see you. I want to be the first one to be part of the team because I believe keeping the tradition here, keeping the winning tradition here, is the standard and I want to be a part of it."

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

Washington safety Kamren Fabiculanan responds to having his helmet ripped off in the CFP championship game. / Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Fabiculanan played in 12 games and started four times in the run to the CFP finale, playing so aggressively he was forced to sit out three separate outings against Michigan State, Stanford and Oregon State to deal with assorted injuries. He just kept coming back.

It's been that way his entire Husky career, with the defensive back from Camarillo, California, always filling in when needed.

This coming season, the sixth-year senior has a chance to become a full-time starter for the first time in his career and close it out with a flourish. He's on his fourth Husky coach in Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lkae, Kalen DeBoer and Fisch, taking a little something away from each of them.

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

For his sake, when people see him Kam Fab from here on, hopefully he'll have that helmet strapped on tight.

KAM FABICULANAN FILE

What he's done: Fabiculanan has appeared in 34 games and started 11 times in five seasons for the Huskies. He has 73 career tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, plus 7 pass break-ups, a fumble recovery and interceptions against Boise State and Tulsa to begin last season.

Starter or not: Kam Fab ran with the No. 1 defense throughout spring practice, he's taken on a leadership role and he likely deserves a promotion. However, the UW picked up a couple of safeties in the transfer portal so he won't have anything handed to him.

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