Determined DeGraaf Defies Norm in UW Debut

The freshman tight end is one of two Huskies to score on his first college play.

Decker DeGraaf celebrates his 33-yard touchdown catch with his Husky teammates. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Decker DeGraaf must think college football is easy.

The coach sends him in to make his University of Washington debut and he returns to the bench after a solitary game snap with a 33-yard touchdown catch in hand.

Over the past six decades at least, and maybe longer, just two players have scored TDs on their very first play for the Huskies.

On Saturday night, DeGraaf, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound freshman tight end from San Dimas, California, pulled off this rare feat by making a testy yet wide-open grab near the end of the second quarter of the UW's 35-3 season-opening victory over Weber State.

in the 1963 UW football opener, it was Steve Bramwell who didn't waste any time in locating the end zone.

With freshmen ineligible for varsity play back then, the diminutive 5-foot-8, 158-pound Bramwell from Bremerton, Washington -- and later the Husky team physician for decades -- was a sophomore making his college debut when he settled under a first-quarter kickoff at Air Force and ran it back 90 yards for a score in a 10-7 loss in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

DeGraaf, known as "Deck" by UW coach Jedd Fisch, where maybe it should be "Upper Deck" following his weekend heroics, might have come into Saturday's game earlier than planned, needing to help fill the void left by an injury to starting senior tight end Quentin Moore, but he was ready.

"He's got fantastic hands," Fisch said. "He catches the ball extremely well."

For a play meant to be extra deceptive, DeGraaf was waved onto the field and dropped into a stance in the Husky backfield, lining up right of quarterback Will Rogers, with running back Jonah Coleman standing directly behind him.

Rogers faked a handoff to Coleman, who did a reverse pivot to draw defenders in the opposite direction, while DeGraaf ran up the right sideline and past the one defender who could have prevented the play from happening. The young tight end was on the 10 when he made an over-the-shoulder catch with no Weber State player within 10 yards of him.

DeGraaf left the ball spinning in the end zone while he and wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter did a hip-gyrating celebration before several other UW players joined in and lifted him up.

"I just felt really good about giving him a shot on the play that was called," Fisch said. "I thought he was going to come down with it -- and he did."

Decker DeGraaf settles under Will Rogers' pass on his way to a 33-yard touchdown catch. / Skylar Lin Visuals

While DeGraaf originally signed with Kalen DeBoer's UW staff, he was well acquainted with Fisch's coaches at Arizona and it was enough to convince the tight end to stick with his Montlake commitment following DeBoer's January exit to Alabama.

"We tried to recruit him," Fisch said. "We saw stuff from him in high school. We thought he was a really, really good tight end. He obviously is really, really good. We saw him and were right on that one."

For Husky spring football practice, DeGraaf showed up as an early enrollee and seemed to fit in, which made him, well, score right away with the coaches.

He played like a well-adjusted veteran, doing everything the other tight ends could do, showing built-in confidence.

"He never lost focus," Fisch said. "He never got overwhelmed being a high school senior who was in college early. It never felt too big for him."

Jeremiah Hunter and Decker DeGraaf celebrate the freshman tight end's touchdown catch. / Skylar Lin Visuals

In reviewing the Weber State game film, the UW coach said DeGraaf was wide open a couple of other times, but the ball went elsewhere. The Huskies will want to take advantage of their precocious tight end whenever they can.

"There was a chance for him to have a few more big plays," Fisch said. "I'm excited to watch him evolve and develop."

After one outing, just one play in fact, DeGraaf already is quite a ways down the road with his UW career.

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