Inside The Huskies

UW Adds Another Safety, This One from Florida International

CJ Christian was a hard-luck player initially who had trouble launching his career.

Dan Raley

FIU's CJ Christian tackles Jacksonville State's Tre Stewart in their 2024 game.
FIU's CJ Christian tackles Jacksonville State's Tre Stewart in their 2024 game. / Dave Hyatt / Special to the Gadsden Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Former Florida International safety CJ Christian, who on Sunday committed to the University of Washington football team, comes from Normal, Illinois, which hardly describes the arc of his playing career.

In 2018, he held a scholarship to Augustana, a Division II school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when he showed up for the first day of classes and found out he was a non-qualifier and couldn't play.

Christian went back to Normal and took a job at a dry cleaning business, working 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"When I lost my scholarship, I was depressed," he told the Miami Herald. "I didn't know if I wanted to play football anymore."

For Christian, this was the new normal for the guy from Normal.

It actually took him three years to get back in the game. In 2021, he joined Iowa Central Community College, where he jumped back in the mix, played in a half-dozen games and teamed with offensive tackle Maximus McCree, who now plays for the Huskies.

After a year at the JC level, Christian turned up at Miami's Florida International University, where he turned three seasons of hard-nosed play into a UW scholarship after entering the transfer portal.

It was not totally a smooth college football situation for him. In his fifth game with the Panthers in 2022, he dislocated a shoulder in a 21-7 win over New Mexico State and was lost for the season.

"My whole college career has been fighting through adversity," said Christian, who made a spiritual conversion during his tough times.

Heavily tattooed, he has "Fear" inked on his right bicep and "God" on his left one, and "Christian" across his chest.

The Huskies no doubt were drawn to him by his blend of toughness and perseverance. For his Conference USA team, he started 24 of 27 outings. He finished with 151 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions, 10 pass break-ups and a fumble recovery.

He left FIU for the portal after the school fired his coach, Mike McIntyre, following three consecutive 4-8 seasons, all of which involved the safety from Normal. McIntyre previously was the head guy at San Jose State for three seasons and Colorado for six.

Christian comes to the Huskies who are busy trying to rebuild their defense for 2025. He's their second safety from the portal, joining Northern Arizona's Alex McLaughlin. Six of the 10 transfers committed to the UW so far are from the defensive side.

He'll join in a safety competition that involves current junior Makell Esteen, a four-game starter; redshirt freshman Vince Holmes, a one-game starter; and a host of freshmen in Peyton Waters, Rahshawn Clark, Raheem Wright II and Paul Mencke Jr., as well as McLaughlin.

He is the second transfer from a Florida school to commit to the UW in two days, joining linebacker Xe'Ree Alexander from Central Florida.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

Published
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.

Home/Football