Jim McCurdy (1923-2019): His First Huskies Game Was the Rose Bowl

Jim McCurdy's first game for the Washington football team was the 1944 Rose Bowl.

He'd joined the Huskies as the starting center for season-opening practices only to turn in his equipment because he couldn't make football work with his engineering class schedule and his Navy V-12 military commitment.

In December, McCurdy was back on the team. He had time now. It was the start of a new quarter. His UW debut would come in Pasadena.

In these war-torn times, McCurdy pulled on a football uniform and played for the Huskies against USC on New Year's Day, likely getting more than a little encouragement from the UW coaches to join them.

The Huskies were favored, but with personnel coming and going because of the war, fell flat and lost to the Trojans 29-0.

The following year, McCurdy played a full schedule, or as full as the world events would permit. It was five games. Enough to show what he could do.

He received All-Coast honors, accepted the team's Flaherty Award as its most inspirational player and went to the Washington Redskins in the NFL draft, bypassing the latter opportunity. He also was named Seattle's 1944 Man of the Year by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

McCurdy began his college football career at Stanford, captaining the freshmen, but the war brought him back home. He had deep roots in Washington.

He hailed from a prominent family that did some milestone things in the city, using its construction company to build Husky Stadium and the first Lake Washington floating bridge.

The younger McCurdy eventually succeeded his father, Horace Winslow McCurdy, as company president and later entered banking.

When he died on Dec. 4 in Seattle, McCurdy was one of the oldest remaining Huskies, if not the oldest. He was the oldest living Man of the Year recipient. He was 96.

McCurdy's departure was fitting. He initially showed up for the bowl season. He left during during the college postseason, as well.