Jack Westover Ran an Unusual Route to become a Husky Tight End

His talent and desire have made him one of the newest University of Washington football scholarship recipients.

Dan Raley | Oct 29, 2020

Jack Westover Ran an Unusual Route to become a Husky Tight End /

Jack Westover decided to give football another try.

He'd played in eighth grade, but had gravitated to basketball.

Four years later as a senior at Mount Si High School in North Bend, Washington, Westover doubled back on his sporting interests.

He put on a helmet and pads again.

He lasted two games — he broke his collarbone.

Yet Westover was in it for the long run now.

Fast forward three years, and he's a 6-foot-3, 245-pound sophomore tight end for the University of Washington football team, newly designated as a scholarship player.

After redshirting for the Huskies in 2018 and putting on some size, Westover played in all 13 games last season.

He lined up at tight end and H-back, used for his fearsome blocking abilities. He had no problem hitting people.

"I like to think of myself as a real physical player," he said.

Westover also caught three passes in 2019, including a 3-yarder for a touchdown against Arizona.

He appears to be even better as a receiver with a new season fast approaching.

"He's taken the next step on his route-running," tight-ends coach Derham Cato said. "He's a guy who's really worked hard."

Considering the path he took to Husky Stadium, Westover has shown there's no clearcut way to get there.

You just have to have UW football in your genes and enough desire to make it happen.

Westover had that and did that.

He grew up in the stadium.

It all makes sense now.

"I've been a Husky my whole life," he said. "My dad had season tickets for 40 years. It was really a no-brainer."

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Published Oct 29, 2020

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.