Inside The Huskies

Molden's Younger Brother Holds 2 Offers: UW and Oregon

Fourteen-year-old Josiah will be at the center of a fierce recruitment.

Dan Raley

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Let the latest Molden tug-of-war begin.

Already pulling on one arm in this defensive-back sweepstakes was Oregon. On Saturday, the University of Washington jumped into what should be an overly intense recruitment of a prodigy and grabbed the other arm.

At the center of everyone's affections is Josiah Molden, a cornerback who just finished up his eighth grade school year. 

He's the son of Ducks cornerback legend Alex Molden and the younger brother of Husky nickelback stalwart Elijah Molden, both eventual NFL players. He's just 14.

He has two scholarship offers: Oregon and Washington, coming exactly a month apart.

Over the summer months, the 6-foot, 160-pound Josiah Molden will move from Athey Creek Middle School to West Linn High School and see how far he can take it as a freshman football player.

At the same age, Elijah carried a 5-foot-6, 145-pound frame and now stands four inches taller and weighs 46 pounds more as a third-year member of the Tennessee Titans.

Alex Molden, who was a 5-foot-10, 190-pound corner, played for the Ducks from 1991 to 1995, redshirting his first season and later overcoming a serious knee injury.

The oldest Molden finished up as a four-year starter, two-time All-Pac-10 selection, a second-team All-America selction and a first-round draft choice for the New Orleans Saints, the 11th pick overall. He spent eight seasons in the NFL and is now a Portland motivational speaker and the father of eight.

Elijah resisted all efforts to follow dad to Eugene, surprising fans on each side of the rivalry by choosing Washington over Oregon. He played for the Huskies from 2017 to 2020, twice receiving first-team All-Pac-12 recognition and was the Las Vegas Bowl MVP.

Now comes Josiah, who's told recruiting analysts that his role models are his father and his brother. Alex, 49, offers his younger son coverage advice, while Elijah, 24, physically shows his little brother what to do.

When the time comes, Josiah, of course, will need to decide, on his own, whether he wants to play for Oregon or Washington — or maybe even go somewhere else. 

The cross-state sweet-talking has commenced.

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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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