Road to 1991 Perfection: Mason Amazed at National-title Impact on Others
Andy Mason spends most of his time in Arizona these days, conducting construction business that involves federal contracts.
Thirty years ago, you found him in opposing backfields from Seattle to Nebraska, as a fearsome defensive end who dropped quarterbacks right and left and became one of the University of Washington's all-time sack leaders with 24 in his career.
Playing next to All-American defensive tackle Steve Emtman, Mason would come off the edge and nobody could stop him.
On this day, we caught with Mason who traveled for a meeting in a small town on the Arizona-New Mexico border. He spoke about eating in a restaurant there in the past, one owned by a Northwest native. Invariably, the conversation turned to his unbeatable Husky football team from so long ago.
Mason, not necessarily a nostalgic type, is amazed at the staying power of what he and his UW teammates did on the football field on the way to a national championship, and what it meant to others.
"It never really dawned upon me at the time how big that is in people's lives and how impressionable it is," he said. "People memorize everything."
This is another in a series of vignettes about the UW's 1991 national title run, supplementing the conversation for the recently completed pandemic-influenced season. We're now in the aftermath of the Huskies' 12-0 season in this throwback replay that will conclude soon.
Mason, who came from Longview, Washington, to play at the UW, doesn't mind talking about his glorious football past. He just doesn't go out of his way to advertise it. He doesn't have a big collection of memorabilia in a trophy room at home.
The former defensive lineman had his Rose Bowl and national championship rings refurbished with new stones and gold, but he doesn't wear them. He keeps them safely tucked away in a safe.
He doesn't need any jewelry to necessarily remind people that he once terrorized college football teams. Even if they're not sure about all of the details at first, they conclude this middle-aged man must have done something cool. And they're right.
"People will ask, 'Who'd you play for? You look familiar,' " Mason said. "I still get that at age 50."
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