SEATTLE — The sweet taste of success that whet the appetite of the University of Washington football team last season was more like a bite of humble pie for a few Huskies.
Safety Greg Walker, wide receiver Jordan Polk, and cornerbacks Quinton Richardson and Vonzell McDowell Jr. started the 2009 opener against LSU but got benched in the weeks that followed. By season’s end, they were bit players on a rising team filled with young up-and-comers.
Now, at a time of year when hope springs eternal, they’re trying to fight their way back into the lineup for the 2010 Huskies.
“No one likes to lose their position,” said Richardson, who started the first six games of the 2009 season before redshirt freshman Adam Long took over that role. “It just gave me more motivation this upcoming year to do better and work harder.
“The coaches aren’t going to give anyone anything, no matter how old you are or who you are. It’s up to you to get your chance and make plays.”
Due in part to Desmond Trufant’s groin injury, which has kept sophomore-to-be out of action, Richardson and McDowell have worked as the starting cornerbacks during spring ball. Meanwhile, Walker is battling for time at one safety position and Polk is currently no higher than fifth in the pecking order at wide receiver.
One characteristic that all four players share is a refusal to give up.
There have been 17 players from the 2009 team who have quit or transferred, but that won’t be a path Richardson takes.
“To me, that’s just a copout,” Richardson said. “(The coaches) are not going to give anyone anything. You have to work for what you earn. You’ve got to earn your keep. That’s what it is. They’re not being mean or unfair. They’ll let you earn it, and that’s what I plan on doing.”
McDowell also refused to give up, despite losing his starting position to Trufant early last season.
“I was nowhere near that mindset of thinking,” the Seattle native said when asked whether he considered transferring. “I want to play for the Huskies. This is my hometown team.”
McDowell started seven games during his first three seasons at UW, and he’s hoping to add a few more starts as a senior this fall. But he’s not looking at his current spot with the first-string defense as a sign that he’s earned anything yet.
“I’m just trying to work hard and make my last year a good one,” he said. “I’m just looking for a spot, competing.”
The defender who may have fallen the furthest during the 2009 season is Walker.
As a redshirt freshman, he won the starting spot at free safety but lasted only one game after missing a pair of open-field tackles in the opening-week loss to LSU. While the safety position was plagued by injuries, Walker had to sit back and watch four other safeties — Nate Williams, Victor Aiyewa, Justin Glenn and true freshmen Nate Fellner — start games while he continued to ride the bench in October and November.
And yet Walker has kept his head high throughout.
“My father is a big influence on me, and he’s talked a lot to me about staying mentally tough,” Walker said Thursday. “That’s my mind frame right now: staying mentally tough and doing my job. I can only control what I can control.”
Walker never considered transferring — “I came here for the academics,” said the Bellflower, Calif., native. He did admit, however, that the 2009 season was a difficult one.
“There were some low points, definitely,” he said. “But I fought through it.”
Head coach Steve Sarkisian appreciates the way several of this year’s Huskies fought through the adversity, and that they’ve decided to come back to fight again.
“Every job in this program is about competition,” Sarkisian said. “You don’t have to accept the role that you earned. You can keep fighting for it.
“It speaks volumes for the work ethic and the character of a lot of kids in this program that they’re continuing to battle.”
Of note
The transition of defensive end Clarence Trent from basketball to football didn’t last long. The freshman quit the football team after just four practices. “He tried it, and he wanted to go back and focus on hoops and focus on school, and I can respect that,” Sarkisian said. … Among the people attending Thursday’s practice was Hall of Famer Joe Montana, whose son Nick is a freshman quarterback for the Huskies. Sarkisian joked that Montana’s presence brought out the best in starting quarterback Jake Locker, who had “probably his best day so far this spring,” Sarkisian said. Locker’s practice could have been even better, had it not been for two perfectly-thrown deep balls that were dropped by Jermaine Kearse and then Devin Aguilar. … The highlight of Thursday’s practice may well have been a long touchdown run by freshman running back Deontae Cooper, who flashed the UW hand signal as he outran a trio of defenders into the end zone. … Senior receiver D’Andre Goodwin hurt a hamstring during the practice, but the injury didn’t appear to be serious. … The starting time of Saturday’s practice, which is open to the public, has been changed to noon.
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