Skip to main content
Inside The Huskies

Fresh Off Super Bowl, Sample Among Huskies Who Meet the New Coach

The tight end introduces himself to Kalen DeBoer four days after the big game.
Dan Raley|
Fresh Off Super Bowl, Sample Among Huskies Who Meet the New Coach
Fresh Off Super Bowl, Sample Among Huskies Who Meet the New Coach

The DeBoer door is always open.

Just two months on the job, the new University of Washington football coach and his staff continue to meet pillars of the program, in this case Super Bowl tight end Drew Sample.

On Friday, Kalen DeBoer posted his introduction to the former Husky tight end and three-year starter (2014-18) from Bellevue, Washington, now making a living with the Cincinnati Bengals and coming off an appearance in annually the biggest football game on the planet.

"Thank you for making the special effort to come 'home' and see us," the coach posted. "Hearing your love and passion for UW football is awesome!"

One by one, former UW players are stopping by to see DeBoer, who arrived from Fresno State to replace Jimmy Lake in December. 

Three days earlier, former offensive guard and three-year starter Stanley Daniels (2002-06) from San Diego and defensive tackle Jordan Reffett (2002-07) from Moses Lake, Washington.

"These guys are all rock stars!" Daniels posted. 

This past Sunday, Sample pulled 32 snaps in the Bengals' hard-luck 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the big game in Inglewood, California, splitting time between offense and special teams.

In his three NFL seasons, the 6-foot-4, 258-pounder has started 23 of 42 games and come up with 56 receptions for 460 yards and a score. 

 Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.

Home/Husky Legends