Road to 1991 Perfection: Jaime Was a Fields of Dreams for the Huskies
The 1991 University of Washington football team was like Noah's Ark — it had two of everything.
Quarterbacks, running backs, inside linebackers and on down the Husky roster.
OK, there was only one Steve Emtman, the All-American defensive tackle and '92 No. 1 overall draft selection who turned himself into a monstrous player by radically changing his body shape, responding to perceived slights such as not getting his high school No. 74 to wear and exerting his will.
Jaime Fields was one of a kind, too.
He didn't alter his physical frame much; it was already categorized as a freak of nature when he showed up.
He didn't feel compelled to motivate himself through anger or the need to vocally call out the others.
Fields simply was this menacingly quiet and super naturally strong edge rusher who endeared himself up and down the lineup with his somewhat blank stare and devil-may-care attitude.
"Linebacker was one of those positions where we all stuck together and Jaim', even though he was an outside linebacker, he was one of our brothers," former UW teammate Hillary Butler said.
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.
Fields, a junior on the '91 team, didn't have a high amount of tackles but he supplied a sack during the Huskies' 34-14 victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl. He tended to pick his spots and then just overwhelm people.
Such was the case during weight-lifting testing, where these highly competitive players went through various rituals to get physically loose and mentally engaged in advance of hoisting large increments of poundage.
Fields just sort of showed up. He had no time or interest in warming up. Just let get in and get out.
"Jaim's not really working out or stressing or doing anything," Butler said. "Finally when it gets to his time, he gets behind it and does a 600-pound bench press and 700 squats like it was nothing, and he didn't even prepare for it. I was like, 'This guy is amazing.' He backed it up with the size, the quickness, the strength, everything he had."
Sadly, Fields lived only eight years and eight months following the Huskies' perfect run. After completing his senior year in another Rose Bowl, he spent three seasons in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs.
In 1999, the day after his Aug. 28 birthday, this 29-year-old man was struck and killed in a hit-and-run accident in the Los Angeles area. He'd been contemplating a pro football return in Europe. Just like that, he was gone.
Butler, some 30 years after they shared in a national title and two decades after losing his friend, gets emotional at the mention of his old friend, as shown in the video.
"Just thinking about him," Butler said, with a long pause filled with emotion before continuing, "brings back feelings."
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