Eric Bjornson Mulled Leaving UW Because of a Huard and Others

The former Husky quarterback and wide receiver worries that college players are transferring way too soon these days.

Eric Bjornson, both a former University of Washington starting quarterback and wide receiver in his time, still keeps tabs on the Huskies. 

He goes to their Bay Area games, traveled in 2018 to their Fiesta Bowl. He trades Facebook messages with former teammates, shares in reunions, texts with fellow UW quarterbacks Mark Brunell and Damon Huard. 

Bjornson also has a personal stake in the upcoming quarterback competition. 

In 1993, he shared the Husky starting job with Huard, whose son, Sam, is the highly promoted, 5-star recruit coming in. He's met the kid. 

"It's pretty exciting," Bjornson said. "I imagine he's going to be in the running from year one. I haven't seen him play. I've seen highlights. I think he's going to be a good one."

Five years ago, Bjornson was hosting a neighborhood barbecue when he learned that Damon and Sam had come to the Bay Area for a football clinic. He invited the Huards over to his house.

He'll remind his sons that the lefty who played pingpong and shot baskets with them that day is now that quarterback at Washington.

Bjornson also has watched with interest as quarterbacks Jacob Sirmon (Central Michigan), Ethan Garbers (UCLA) and Kevin Thomson (pro football) left the Husky program this winter, presumably for most because of the looming presence of the younger Huard. 

The season before, sophomore Jake Haener (Fresno State) exited after failing to beat out Jacob Eason as the starter. He had to know Huard was coming, too.

"I don't fault any of the guys," Bjornson said, adding a word of caution. "I like that they at least had the opportunity to choose, but I worry a little bit. For me, I'm all about managing regret. I don't want to make a decision I'm going to regret."

He once ranked third on the UW quarterback depth chart behind Billy Joe Hobert and Brunell, both Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player award winners, and just ahead of the highly regarded Huard, when he considering transferring in 1992. 

"I felt I might never play here," Bjornson said. 

He visited Michigan on an unofficial visit and toured the Ann Arbor campus with his parents. He had his high school coach talk to the Wolverines coaches. Yet he stayed put. 

Bjornson started part of the 1993 season at quarterback before becoming the Huskies' leading receiver and a second-team All-Pac-10 selection the following year as a senior.

Prior to his football breakthrough, Bjornson took stock of his situation as a UW student and concluded he liked the school and was better off staying even if football didn't pan out. But it did.

Besides getting his chance with the Huskies in multiple ways, he became a six-year NFL player and a 41-game pro starter, and he was part of a Dallas Cowboys team that won Super Bowl XXX.

"You never know what's going to happen. Look at Haener — Haener could have been the guy," Bjornson said of the 2019 transfer. "He certainly would have had a leg up on the competition if he'd never left. He's done well at Fresno, but I don't know. I just worry about those guys who make hasty decisions."

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