Derek Johnson, author of Husky Football in the Don James Era, has produced another loving remembrance of Washington footballers past: The Dawgs of War. Johnson's subject: The 2000 Huskies, a team that endured the paralysis of teammate Curtis Williams--Johnson provides chilling, visceral details of the immediate aftermath of Williams' injury--to achieve UW's last Rose Bowl victory.
The team's on-field success has since been overshadowed as a result of the Seattle Times' 2008 "Victory and Ruins" series, detailing criminal behavior by some members of that team. Johnson's book puts the focus back on the field and, in some of the book's most revealing passages, on the sideline and in the locker room. We emailed Derek some questions, he emailed back.
Was there anything you learned in the course of writing the book that really surprised you?
I didn't have a deep affection for the team when I started, and I didn't foresee that changing. By the end of the project, I loved them. I loved what Marques stood for. I loved the unbreakable team spirit. I've rarely been a part of something like that personally and in writing this I suddenly felt myself entering into that world of camaraderie. That came as a surprise. Also, I felt like I would eventually find cracks in the armor of Marques Tuiasosopo. Not so. He was literally universally loved by his teammates and all the stories you hear of his integrity and fortitude are true.
Do you think Tuiasosopo has any competition as the greatest on-field leader in team history?
I've heard similar stories about Bob Schloredt from '59-60, but I never saw him play so I can't say for sure. Beyond Marques, Billy Joe Hobert matched him at least in terms of moxie.
Was the Times' publication of the "Victory and Ruins" series part of your motivation for writing the book?
A little bit, but not much in the grand scheme of things. I was already in the early stages of working on the book when I got an email from someone telling me that something big was coming from the Times. At first I thought, "No one will want to read my book now." But after awhile, I saw that the Times article didn't matter. It might come to pass that this book will far outlive the effects of Victory and Ruins. But, I see them as apples and oranges. What will be will be.
What's your take on that series? Did your research and writing change your perspective on it at all?
It was captivating reading, but to this day I don't understand what the real point of it was. My biggest points of contention that they didn't portray the Williams marriage for the mutually volatile situation that it was. They were both far too young to get married.
My other point of contention was that the Seattle Times featured a photo of Marques Tuiasosopo on the front page under that Victory and Ruins headline. That was a crime. As my book documents, the Washington players viewed Marques as the most stand-up guy you could ever meet. And yet the Times felt comfortable using his photo on the front page. Not to mention that they focused on the transgressions of three players and made it seem like the entire team was comprised of troublemakers. And they had good material with which to do it... Jerramy Stevens has behaved like an animal, and Jeremiah Pharms was a very troubled guy who is now back in prison for violating parole. But the Times needed a coup de grace to the series, and so they went after the deceased Curtis Williams.
You know, all writers are flame-throwers at heart. And when you look closely at any work of art that someone has put a tremendous amount of effort into, there is always something else at work underneath. I remember UW linebacker Derrell Daniels speculating to me that the Times' writers maybe had been excluded from athletics as kids and now they were going after their revenge. I interviewed one of the writers, Nick Perry, and I came away feeling he was a decent guy who believed in what he was doing. I tend to think that he and his co-writer despise the football culture that overshadows academics at major universties, and they wanted to bring the hammer down upon it. We also live in a feminized culture which is driven by the media, and football is one of society's last bastions of masculinity. Maybe that was at work too, in that they wanted to detonate that world. Who knows?
What are some of your personal memories from the 2000 season?
That win over Miami was mind-blowing. Seeing Rich Alexis sprint 50 yards for a touchdown was one of the most electrifying moments of the year. And seeing and hearing the crowd chant for Curtis Williams prior to the Arizona game.
How do you think the players were able to put the fear engendered by Williams' paralysis behind them and actually play with more fire after the injury?
When faced with that kind of tragedy, what follows soon after is that moment of truth. You either shy away or you fight your way through it. William James (not to be confused with Don James) talked about an oceanic feeling of God being present when individual ego is suppressed. And when those Washington players faced that kind of tragedy and that sort of evidence of mortality, their sense of playing for something far bigger than themselves expanded immeasurably.
And, finally--what was your reaction when Folk hit that kick to beat USC on Saturday?
Tyrone Willingham had spent four years stinking up the bathroom of Husky Football, and Folk's kick to beat USC was like a window being opened and a fan being turned on blast.
Subscribe to our Front Page Stories
Subscribe to
Most Recent Comments