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Inside The Huskies

Penix Named Seattle Sports Star Winner — 21st UW Football Player Selected

The Husky quarterback and his teammates were saluted on Thursday night.
Dan Raley|
Penix Named Seattle Sports Star Winner — 21st UW Football Player Selected
Penix Named Seattle Sports Star Winner — 21st UW Football Player Selected

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Washington Huskies

Finally, the city got a chance to celebrate one of the University of Washington's finest football seasons in its 134 years of competition.

Since reaching the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 8, it seemed as if only bad things had happened to the Huskies, who lost to Michigan 34-13 and their coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama in a handful of days.

On Thursday night, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was named the Men's 89th Seattle Sports Star of the Year and he and his teammates were honored for having the Seattle Sports Story of the Year at the Westin Seattle and were able to take a bow.

Penix, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, became the 21st Husky football player to be singled out as the city's man of the year in what is believed to be the nation's second-longest running awards event.

The late Royal Brougham, the former Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist, sports editor and even character in the recently released "Boys in the Boat" movie, created the Seattle Sports Star proceedings as a luncheon in 1935 — a year before that Husky crew rowed to an Olympic gold medal in Germany with dictator Adolf Hitler watching.

Penix, forever adopted by Seattle no matter where he gets drafted by the NFL in two months, was his usual beaming self as he stepped to the stage in his purple sports coat. 

Standing in front of a giant image of himself, the quarterback, who led the Huskies to 25 wins in 28 games over two seasons, flashed a big smile and said, "Go Dawgs," as he received a huge ovation.

He joined previous UW football player winners in running back Chris Polk (2017), quarterback Jake Locker (2007), quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo (1999), running back Napolean Kaufman (1994), defensive tackle Steve Emtman (1991), running back Greg Lewis (1990), kicker Chuck Nelson (1982), running back Joe Steele (1979), quarterback Warren Moon (1977), cornerback Cal Jones (1973), offensive guard Rick Redman (1964), running back Don McKeta (1960), two-way lineman Arnie Weinmeister (1957), running back Hugh McElhenny (1951), two-way guard Jim McCurdy (1944), running back Dean McAdams (1939) and running back John Cherberg (1937). 

Former Husky coaches Don James (1981) and Jim Owens (1959) also were named Sports Star of the Year winners.

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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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