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UW Fresh Start (No. 26): Sunday Looks to Make Himself Yearly Presence

The high-spirited Texan should be in the thick of the running-back competition.
Dan Raley|
UW Fresh Start (No. 26): Sunday Looks to Make Himself Yearly Presence
UW Fresh Start (No. 26): Sunday Looks to Make Himself Yearly Presence

As new coach Kalen DeBoer puts University of Washington football back in order, he might consider rearranging his calendar — where every day is Sunday.

This would require the Husky leader to regularly hand the ball to redshirt freshman Jay'Veon Sunday on Saturdays and the occasional Friday during the fall, and hope the brash running back from Texas takes full advantage of this opportunity for the next three or four years.

Of the 100-plus UW players inherited by DeBoer, Sunday is one of those he is least likely to forget.

There's the catchy, end-of-the-week name. The oversized personality that lends credence to the overzealous Lone Star adage "that everything is big in Texas." And the belief he possesses the right amount of talent and showmanship to enthrall the Husky masses.

Of the seven UW running backs on scholarship, four of them hail from the second-largest state in the union (behind Alaska). Specifically, they come from the bustling Southwestern outposts of Fort Worth, Waco, Lufkin and El Paso. 

Each one of these ball carriers still has his football reputation intact, the idea that he can someday become the UW's main man in running the football. Nobody's been ruled out for having ordinary talent or been deemed likely a career sub. 

Last spring, the 6-foot, 195-pound Sunday did his best to get noticed, turning every rush attempt into an adventure. He high-stepped like someone in a marching band, pointed fingers skyward to celebrate even small victories and tried to run over everybody.

Defensive players were so offended by his antics they repeatedly knocked him off his feet and got directly in his face with catcalls.

Jay'Veon Sunday runs the ball in the 2021 spring game.

Caleb Berry and Jay'Veon Sunday hang out at practice.

Jay'Veon Sunday chats up sixth-year senior Sean McGrew.

Jay'Veon Sunday readies himself before running a drill. 

Jay'Veon Sunday was one of four college signees at his Texas high school.

Jay'Veon Sunday made his commitment announcement in a graphic.

As UW recruit, Jay'Veon Sunday posed for images. 

With spring practice less than a month away, we're offering intel and observations gathered on the UW football personnel in a series of stories on every scholarship player from No. 0 to 99 until we finish. We'll review each Husky's previous starting experience, if applicable, and determine what likely comes next under DeBoer.

As is the case with any coaching change, it's a new football beginning for everyone, including the Huskies' attention-seeking No. 26 on offense.

Let the record show that Sunday in his ever so brief UW career has appeared in four games. He's run the ball a modest eight times for 10 yards with a long run of 4 yards. Those are not stats that will get you into the Husky Hall of Fame.

He has considerable ground to cover to rise to the top of the depth chart at this position, but he seems to embrace it.

Sunday still has a considerable challenge in front of him to simply establish himself as the best Husky running back from Texas. 

Megwa, a redshirt freshman runner with a huge recruiting reputation, has been brought along slowly since arriving last fall in order to deal with an injury he suffered back home. Spring seemingly will be his college coming-out party.

Berry similarly showed up in Seattle last spring while in recovery from a broken leg that abruptly ended his senior high school on an east Texas  football field. As a redshirt freshman, he, too, should be more ready to run during the coming April workouts.

Dumas is a transfer who led New Mexico in rushing as a true freshman last year with 143 of his 658 rushing yards coming against DeBoer and his Fresno State team last fall. He needs to make that type of production level transfer over to the Pac-12 to become the Husky starter.

It should be noted that Sunday never considers himself a day of rest. He's an energetic guy who will make himself noticed and talked about and maybe even promoted.

UW Starter or Not: When last season ended, Sunday was the fifth of five running backs who drew game time and carried the ball. With Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant each having used up six years of eligibility, and junior Richard Newton in recovery from knee surgery, Sunday likely starts out spring practice as the No. 2 back, behind only sophomore Cam Davis, who has the most experience of anyone. Sunday appears to have plenty of football ability and an overabundance of personality to be the featured back, if not this season then soon.

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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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