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Inside The Huskies

Boston, Trice Enjoy Milestone Moments in NFL Debuts

Several former Huskies turn up with catches, tackles and first outings.
Dan Raley|
Falcons edge rusher Bralen Trice made his NFL debut on Sunday with the Atlanta Falcons.
Falcons edge rusher Bralen Trice made his NFL debut on Sunday with the Atlanta Falcons. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

On the first full weekend of NFL regular-season games, former University of Washington players enjoyed some milestone if not heartfelt moments.

On Sunday, rookie wide receiver Denzel Boston came up with his first touchdown catch in his debut outing for the Cleveland Browns, hauling in a 46-yard scoring pass from Deshaun Watson late in a 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Against a more emotional backdrop, edge rusher Bralen Trice made his long overdue NFL debut for the Atlanta Falcons after three years of trying because of multiple knee injuries and he held up well.

Denzel Boston had a touchdown catch in his first NFL game for the Cleveland Browns.
Denzel Boston had a touchdown catch in his first NFL game for the Cleveland Browns. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Boston, who led the Huskies in receiving last year, had 2 catches for 59 yards. He scored the Browns' only touchdown with 1:52 left to play by beating a defender one-on-one to the end zone and making with a difficult diving catch.

The 6-foot-4, 274-pound Trice was cut by the Falcons in late August, recently re-signed and put on the active roster late in the week. He supplied a pair of tackles his first time out in a 20-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Trice's quarterback teammate Michael Penix Jr., both in Atlanta and at the UW, was on the injured list while recovering from a knee injury and wasn't able to play.

For the Steelers, linebacker and special-teams leader Carson Bruener finished with a pair of tackles.

Elsewhere, former UW wide receiver Rome Odunze caught 2 passes for 52 yards, including a 47-yarder, in the Chicago Bears' season-opening 59-37 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Odunze had been battling a foot injury in recent weeks.

Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) had a pair of catches in his NFL opener.
Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (15) had a pair of catches in his NFL opener. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In Cincinnati, one-time Husky tight ends and teammates Drew Sample and Cade Otton went head to head as opponents.

In the Bengals' 33-27 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sample caught 3 passes for 19 yards for the winners while Otton pulled in 3 passes for 26 yards for the other side.

Former UW defensive tackle Vita Vea, recently signed to a one-year, $30 million extension, had a quarterback hurry for the Bucs.

In Houston, the Buffalo Bills pulled out a 36-31 win over the host Texans and defensive tackle Greg Gaines and tight end Keleki Latu, both ex-Huskies, each had a pair of tackles for the winning side.

Also, former UW running back Jonah Coleman, after a successful training camp as a rookie, will make his NFL debut for the Denver Broncos in the Monday Night Football game in Kansas City against the Chiefs.

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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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