Inside The Huskies

Rosengarten Goes From 'Nobody' to Somebody on All-Rookie Team

The former UW offensive tackle had a memorable first NFL season.
Dan Raley|
Ravens offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten (70), the former Husky, blocks Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) during their playoff game.
Ravens offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten (70), the former Husky, blocks Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) during their playoff game. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

It was the modern-day remake of that memorable Mean Joe Greene TV commercial, the one in which the legendary and fearsome NFL player limps through the tunnel following a fictional game and is approached by a concerned kid who hands over his Coca Cola soft drink and ends up with a coveted football jersey.

In this case, it was former University of Washington offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten, now of the Baltimore Ravens, who got the football shirt.

As they were walking off the field together earlier this month, Rosengarten humbly introduced himself as a "nobody" to highly accomplished Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett while asking him for his jersey as a keepsake, an NFL ritual for many.

However, that form of identification won't work anymore for Rosengarten -- if it ever did -- because on Tuesday he was named to the Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team, celebrated for appearing in 17 games for his playoff-bound team and starting 14 of them.

In fact, Rosengarten turned in the best season of any of the more than a dozen UW players who went from the Huskies' recent national runner-up team to become NFL rookies this past season, including the much more celebrated Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze and Troy Fautanu, all first-round draft picks.

A second-round pick and the 62nd player taken overall, the 6-foot-5, 316-pound Rosengarten was the ninth tackle selected in the draft. He ended up as one of the two best, sharing the PFWA rookie accolades at his position with 6-foot-9, 322-pound Joe Alt of the Los Angeles Chargers and formerly of Notre Dame.

After taking over as a starter in week 4 for the Ravens, Rosengarten allowed just four sacks in 488 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). with one coming on his first play as an NFL tackle.

"I think any time you give up a sack as an O-lineman, it's probably the lowest point you'll ever be as an O-linemen," Rosengarten told baltimoreravens.com. "I just took the negative and turned it into a positive. I knew I could only go up from there and, this back half of the season, I wanted to make sure I laid it out all on the line. I gave it my all."

Rosengarten went viral with his on-field exchange with Garrett, to which the Browns player responded to him, "Hey, you're in the league, winning games, all looking great. You're never a nobody."

Besides, the way big Roger is playing these day, people will be asking for his jersey in the none too distant future.

. For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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