Jack Shaffer Draws Game Time, Fan Following at UCLA

John Mills is huge for a University of Washington freshman offensive lineman, as is Champ Taulealea, but Jack Shaffer appears to be an even heavier human being.

The latter is listed by the school at 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds, but that appears to be a little on the light side for this extra-large kid from Bismarck, North Dakota.

Yet size is not the only redeeming quality for Shaffer -- he's the guy always on the move behind the Husky bench on game day, waving a towel and getting involved even though he's redshirting and not likely to play.

Except on Saturday night when, much to the delight of a section of UCLA students who had sort of adopted him throughout the Rose Bowl outing, the Huskies sent Shaffer onto the field in the fourth quarter to make his college football debut.

Seemingly losing interest in what would be a 48-14 defeat for them, these Bruins backers kept up a running commentary regarding Shaffer, chanting for him to play and thinking they were responsible when it happened.

Freshmen offensive lineman John Mills and Jack Shaffer are both 6-foot-6 and at least 330 pounds, and probably much heavier. | Dan Raley

Once the game ended, Shaffer went over and met with his newfound fans before heading to the locker room.

"I saw there was some commotion behind the bench, even from the box I saw some commotion, that there was some energy there," UW offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty confirmed.

"Shafe's a great kid, got a great energy about him. It's no surprise to us because he brings that kind of enthusiasm and is doing whatever he can to help the team."

For now, Shaffer will continue in a development mode, drawing 8-10 plays in practice during what's called "a basics period," as Dougherty explained it, where redshirts and others not necessarily in the game plan each week get a chance to compete.

Shaffer is one of the UW's five freshmen offensive linemen, who with Lowen Colman-Brusa and Jake Flores are building up their bodies, while Mills and Taulealea have come into their first seasons physically ready to play.

Jack Shaffer stays involved in UW game day even when he's redshirting. | UW

"He's just a young guy who continues to get better," Dougherty said of Shaffer "He's got great size and he's another guy we're excited about. He just needs another offseason in the weight room to continue to get bigger and better. With that size, there's something there, so we're excited about him."

So is that UCLA frat house or whatever it was, with those vocal guys finding some fun in interacting with Shaffer, even when their team was down by 34.

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