Inside The Huskies

The Tale of Two Husky Teammates Turned Seahawks and One City

Practically mirroring each other's football career, Will Dissly and Sidney Jones have been near inseparable.
Dan Raley|
The Tale of Two Husky Teammates Turned Seahawks and One City
The Tale of Two Husky Teammates Turned Seahawks and One City

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Seattle SeahawksWashington Huskies

Will Dissly and Sidney Jones have shared the same college team, NFL team, city, huddle and now contract upgrade. 

Wonder if they'll ever get tired of each other?

They are Huskies turned Seahawks turned long-term Seattle residents.

Dissly and Jones arrived at the University of Washington together in 2014, as Chris Petersen recruits during his first season as coach, coming from Bozeman, Montana, and Diamond Bar, California, respectively, and they played right away as true freshmen.

Initially both were defensive players, with Jones immediately starting a dozen games at cornerback and Dissly coming off the bench to play in six outings as a reserve defensive lineman.

In 2015, they were sophomores and Husky starters together on defense just one time — at Stanford, a 31-14 midseason loss. Overall, Jones  opened all 12 games that season and was named first-team All-Pac-12; Dissly appeared in 11 outings with the lone start.

In 2016, Jones was at his best starting all 14 games at cornerback, repeating as an All-Pac-12 selection and choosing to enter the NFL draft early and pass up his senior eligibility.

However this would be a year of big change for these two Huskies, who shared in a 12-2 season topped by a trip to the College Football Playoff against Alabama.

Some good, some bad.

Dissly moved to tight end and started 5 of the 14 games, which was a much better position for him.

Jones, however, had a huge setback in his football ascension. In his Pro Day workout at the UW, the projected first-rounder tore an Achilles tendon and saw his draft status plummet. The non-contact injury cost him a lot of money.

He had surgery and dropped to the second round of the NFL draft, taken as the 43rd player overall by the Philadelphia Eagles. The 6-foot, 186-pound defensive back appeared in only the regular-season finale for a Super Bowl-bound team in 2017.

Still learning his trade, the 6-foot-4, 262-pound Dissly played one more year for the Huskies in 2017. He started 11 of 13 games, turning himself into a fourth-round pick for the Seahawks as the 120th player drafted.

Dissly had his own injury travails once he got into the league. He tore a knee patellar tendon as an NFL rookie and was left with an Achilles rupture in his second pro season, limiting him to just 10 games.

Finally, these two football players were reunited, healthy and productive this past season. 

Dissly and Jones have gone from No.s 98 and 26 in purple and gold, respectively, to 89 and 23 in blue and green.

Jones was acquired by the Seahawks from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2022 sixth-round draft pick. Dissly was deemed healthy for a second consecutive year.

Their Achilles tendons held up strong. Football treated them well. They had reason to be satisfied.

Dissly started a career-high 14 of 15 games and caught 21 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown. 

Jones appeared in 16 games for the first time in his five-year pro career and started 11 games, collecting 66 tackles and 10 pass break-ups.

Contractural rewards were on the way.

On the same day, Dissly signed a new Seahawks deal worth $24 million over three years and Jones reupped with a one-year extension for $3.6 million to remain in Seattle.

They're each making a good living as pros in a city that won't let go of them and they've not been forgotten across town. 

As shown in the accompanying video, former Husky coach Jimmy Lake enthusiastically compared current UW players to each of them before he was ousted. 

They're standard-bearers. Their UW legacy is a strong one. Their Seahawks connection is a welcome one.

  

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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.

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