Michigan Has Another Hutchinson to Throw at the Huskies

He has a similar motor to the others, but not the bloodlines everyone assumes.

Dan Raley | Sep 10, 2021

Michigan Has Another Hutchinson to Throw at the Huskies /

Michigan has yet another Hutchinson, a familiar football name for the Wolverines and still another disruptor, to make the University of Washington football team uncomfortable on Saturday night.

As in Aidan, a 6-foot-6, 269-pound senior edge rusher.

Got to be Steve's kid, right Seahawks fans?

No.

As the leader of the Michigan defense and an honors candidate, Aidan Hutchinson is a confident, spikey-haired, sunglasses-wearing power package for the Wolverines who carries different bloodlines.

His father is Chris Hutchinson, a former Wolverines edge rusher and linebacker, not the Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson, who played for Seattle's NFL franchise from 2001 to 2005, with his last Seahawks' game coming in Super Bowl XL.

Not everyone believes it.

"I have tried to coach him on how to handle people who insist he is related to Steve Hutchinson," Chris Hutchinson said. "At times, I have just had to agree with people who do not believe me or think I am kidding when I tell them we are not related the 'other' Hutchinson. Usually when asked, I say he is the one who won a national championship, but I am the one who won 5 Big Ten championships and never lost to Ohio State."

Chris Hutchinson, however, has a football connection to the UW. He played against the Huskies in the 1992 and 1993 Rose Bowls, splitting those games.

This Hutchinson, 51, a native Texan, was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American in 1992. The 6-foot-2, 249-pounder gave the NFL a brief trial as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns, had a bad reaction to a tetanus shot and retired immediately, becoming a doctor.

Steve Hutchinson, 43, is a Florida native who earned consensus All-American honors at offensive guard and was the Wolverines team captain in 2000. He began his Michigan career as a defensive tackle. The Seahawks drafted him 17th in the first round of the NFL draft and the 6-foot-5, 313-pounder later played for the Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans.

Aidan, whether there is a family tree involved or not, fits the mold of a Michigan Hutchinson. Same competitive spirit, same physical presence. He'll be a handful for the Huskies. A season-opening 47-14 win over Western Michigan didn't little to satisfy him.

“We haven’t done a damn thing," Aidan Hutchinson told reporters this week. "We’re all moved on. We’re ready for Washington. We’re ready for the upcoming games. We’re not content with this at all.”

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Published Sep 10, 2021

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.