Huskies' Tough-Minded Tim Bullard (1940-2022) Never Strayed from a 'Challenge'

The Oregon native and two-time Rose Bowl winner died on April 7 at the age of 81.

Tim Bullard played at the University of Washington during the time of single-platoon football, which meant 11 guys generally pulled almost all of the game-day snaps on Saturday afternoons, staying on the field for both offense and defense, while everyone else watched.

To keep the rest of the Huskies motivated, then coach Jim Owens introduced "The Challenge," which was a lot like something out of the movie "The Gladiator."

A football fight to the death.

With the rest of the team crowded around and exhorting them on, a UW reserve player went one-on-one with the first-teamer, trying to take his starting job away from him.

The challenger had three plays to go 10 yards. There was plenty of yelling. Even more grunting and groaning.

Bullard, who was 81 when he died on April 7 from the effects of dementia, was a master at this medieval style of Husky football jousting.

In 1961, Bullard and Ray Mansfield challenged each other at least six times during that season for the right to be the starting center. Each won on three occasions.

The 6-foot, 210-pound Bullard from Coos Bay, Oregon, built his UW reputation on this sort of macho give and take. Coming from his rough and ready coastal town, he had the right mindset to exceed at this exercise.

The late Mansfield, who played 14 NFL seasons as a 6-foot-3, 250-pounder and died of a heart attack in 1996 at 55 while hiking in the Grand Canyon, really didn't want any part of it.

"It's kind of like a guy going into battle when you meet Bullard in a Challenge," Mansfield said in 1961. "You know, the tension and all that. I get real nervous and my knees shake."

Bullard was a little more dismissive over any fears he might have about this showdown.

"The Challenge," he said, "is a necessary evil."

The Bullard brothers were UW linemen / UW

When he passed away, Bullard was one of the last remnants of a golden and determined era of Husky football in which he and his teammates went 20-2 in 1959 and 1960 and won consecutive Rose Bowls.

In recent years, All-American quarterback Bob Schloredt and fellow Rose Bowl MVP running back George Fleming have died, leaving just a handful of survivors. 

Bullard is being remembered as a former Marine who served in Vietnam, a management consultant, a former KOMO-TV producer and director and, late in life, a volunteer firefighter. 

He had the unique experience of playing alongside his older brother, Barry, on those Rose Bowl teams. He played his Coos Bay High football for Pete Susick, a former UW fullback from 1940-43 who hailed from Bend, Oregon.

As word of his death spread through the Husky fan base, longtime team supporter Doug Glant took a moment to eulogize Tim Bullard, someone he considered a good friend, which you can hear in the accompanying video.

Thirty-three years ago, well after Bullard had played, Glant's family established the Earle T. Glant Tough Husky Award, named after his father and given each season to someone who showed plenty of grit and perseverance as a UW player.

That might help explain how Glant and Bullard became such fast friends. The latter was one tough Husky.

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