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Inside The Huskies

Legend of John Mills Takes Him To Seattle Steakhouse

The Husky offensive lineman played to the cameras in a visit to high-end downtown eatery.
Dan Raley|
John Mills lets Beck Walker how pleased he was by the walk-on's Spring Game run.
John Mills lets Beck Walker how pleased he was by the walk-on's Spring Game run. | Dave Sizer photo

Somebody last week dropped a Top 10 list of college football offensive linemen -- and clearly dropped the ball.

John Mills wasn't on it.

This University of Washington offensive lineman is a legendary figure in the making, both on and off the field.

Eleven-game starter as a freshman, extra large at 6-foot-6 and 335 pounds, talented, entertaining, and still only 18.

"He's probably the best locker-room presence I have ever met from any place I've been around," said former Husky edge rusher Zach Durfee, recently drafted by the NFL. "I don't know if you guys know Mills, but just an interesting dude."

Well, the UW football video team has fully realized this, understanding what an over-the-top and mesmerizing personality it has on its hands. It was time to take advantage of it.

These guys escorted him to El Qaucho, Seattle's foremost downtown steakhouse, which understood it had football royalty in its midst.

This is a kid with his own fan club of mullet wig-wearing members.

He recently received a mullet logo specially prepared for him.

All of this comes while Mills was named as a Freshman All-American by more than one organization.

John Mills signs an autograph for a young fan.
John Mills signs an autograph for a young fan. | Dave Sizer photo

Not surprisingly, he's a steak connoisseur, too.

Entering the El Qaucho, it was Mr. Mills this and Mr. Mills that.

He ordered the "baseball cut" of the top sirloin steak, explaining why he prefers it over a ribeye. He asked for it to be cooked rare, to derive the most protein out of it.

"It's the back end of the cow, thick, lean, but it brings the flavor," Mills said, turning into a reviewer on the order of the late Anthony Bourdain. "It takes its name from the shape it takes when it gets cooked."

He took a bite for the camera and declared the meat perfectly prepared.

"It's understated, like a rookie nobody saw coming," Mills quipped.

While most diners might have ordered a fine wine or aged whiskey to accompany the main course -- of course, he wasn't old enough to partake -- the teenager turned to his beverage of choice.

"Washing it down with some good old-fashioned mug root beer," Mills said, with a big smile.

The video crew dubbed this outing "Muggin' with Mills" and promised a new episode each week.

Even if this Husky lineman didn't make that Top 10 list, anyone on it would be hard-pressed to do what he's done at such a young age.

And that's both swallowing defensive linemen whole, plus the back end of the cow for a large audience.

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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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