Bjornson Might Be Most Versatile Husky Football Player Ever

We've marveled at the multi-dimensional football players trotted out by the University of Washington, versatile athletes so capable of handling radically different assignments, all without blinking.

Players such as Shaq Thompson, John Ross, Senio Kelemente and Will Dissly, among others, are guys who easily could slide from one side of the ball to the other without any trouble, sometimes pulling this off in the same game.

Then there is Eric Bjornson — in modern times, no one in the UW football program has done anything near what he accomplished.

Bjornson started at quarterback and at wide receiver for the Huskies, and as a NFL tight end for the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots.

This enabled him to participate in three Rose Bowls and win two of them, claim a national championship and share in a Super Bowl victory.

"Anybody who knows me, and knows my career, I've been insanely lucky," said Bjornson, 49, who lives in California's Bay Area. "Am I lucky? Of course, I'm lucky. I'm super happy with what I did."

The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder from Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd was the only Husky quarterback recruit signed in 1990. He followed Mark Brunell and Billy Joe Hobert into the program and preceded Damon Huard. He was a big deal.

Bjornson received a UW scholarship offer initially earmarked for Drew Bledsoe, who chose Washington State. Irregardless, he might have gone to Duke had Steve Spurrier remained coach there.

He was a redshirt freshman when he held on kicks in every game for the Huskies' 1991 national championship team.

As a sophomore, he split time between reserve quarterback and back-up wide receiver for a Rose Bowl team. He completed 4 of 7 passes and caught 14 balls.

In 1993, Bjornson became the UW's No. 1 quarterback for games against Oregon State, USC and Washington State, replacing a beat-up and slumping Huard. He led the Huskies to a pair of wins and came up five points shy of defeating the Trojans. He completed 51 of 121 passes for 585 yards and a touchdown.

As a senior, Bjornson moved to wide receiver on a full-time basis. With his 4.5-second time in the 40-yard dash, he became Huard's top target. He led the Huskies with 49 catches for 770 yards and 7 scores in 1994 and was named second-team All-Pac-10. He also threw an incomplete pass that season.

It wasn't hard for him to give up quarterbacking. Had he stayed at that position, Bjornson likely would have shared the job at best and, if so, he would have impeded Huard's progress.

"My only thought was I wanted to have as much fun as possible as a senior and play as much as possible," he said.

The Cowboys next drafted him in the fourth round with every intention of putting 20 pounds on him and converting him into a tight end, which they did.

Bjornson played six NFL seasons, started 41 of 82 games and caught 147 passes for 1,384 yards and 8 scores, most of them coming from Troy Aikman.

"A lot of guys play college football with hopes of playing in the NFL," he said. "I never had that thought. That was so beyond my wildest dreams."

In his final pro season in 2000, he joined the New England Patriots and caught 20 balls from Bledsoe, that WSU quarterback and one-time Husky recruit.

Another Patriots teammate back then was a rookie from Michigan named Tom Brady, who grew up in San Mateo, California, some 30 miles from Bjornson's hometown. Brady threw just one incomplete pass during his first NFL season.

Any tinge of not being the next Aikman or another Bledsoe or Brady?

I wouldn't trade it," Bjornson said. "I feel really lucky just to have the experience I had. I kind of liked being able to play both positions, multiple positions."

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