Inside The Huskies

Husky Walk-on LB Earned Game Time, Seeks More Minutes Elsewhere

Ben Hines appeared in three UW games this past season after a long wait.

Dan Raley

Almost unnoticed, linebacker Ben Hines left the University of Washington football team and entered the transfer portal.

There was no social-media fan outrage, no insults hurled his way for supposedly abandoning the Huskies, no reaction really. 

People instead wished him well.

After four seasons in Montlake, the 5-foot-11, 230-pound walk-on from Snohomish, Washington, apparently accomplished his goal of getting onto the field for the Huskies, with the undersized defender appearing in three games this past season against long odds.

For Hines, it's time to seek meaningful minutes elsewhere, to play a lot of college ball as a junior and a senior, to find his way at a lower level of football.

People have shown interest in this little-used but determined Husky linebacker, with Hines revealing on Twitter this past week that the Valparaiso Beacons, an FCS program in Indiana, had offered him.

Hines played his high school football for Archbishop Murphy in Mukilteo, Washington, where UW coaches noticed him making tackles all over the field while they scouted and received a commitment from highly regarded cornerback Kyler Gordon, now bound for the NFL.

Choosing to become a preferred walk-on for the Huskies, Hines turned down a scholarship offer from FCS San Diego. He proved a popular teammate for his hustle and desire, though he didn't enter a game over his first three UW seasons. 

Spring practice came to a temporary stop one morning after Hines intercepted a pass meant for tight end Devin Culp and the fun began. He immediately was engulfed by euphoric Husky teammates on the field and coming fast from the sideline. They jumped on him. Slapped his helmet. Head-butted him. Hugged him. Slapped his helmet a little more. It was only practice, but it was a badge-of-honor moment. 

Hines played for the first time against Arkansas State, as did a lot of UW players, in a game that wound up 52-3 in favor of his side. However, he also drew time on special teams in the Huskies' final two games against Colorado and Washington State, rewarded after Bob Gregory, his defensive coordinator and linebackers position coach, began running things as an interim head coach.

So Hines is now off to become a starter somewhere else, as a high-numbers tackler, as someone experiencing college football every which way.

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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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