Road to 1991 Perfection: Clifford Won National Title, Got Humbled

The Husky linebacker led the Pac-10 in tackles as a sophomore. He had to deal with being a backup on the national championship team.

James Clifford is the director of strength and conditioning for the Seattle Mariners. A baseball guy. He's been with the organization for 28 years. Played a half-dozen as a minor-league player, as a power hitter.

Every once in a while, one of the Mariners finds out he had another sporting identity, one he doesn't necessarily advertise, and wants to know more. About the time he played for Washington's 1991 national championship team. 

Clifford is exhibit A of how good that team was. 

Two years before as a sophomore, Clifford led the Pac-10 in tackles. The entire league. A fall-camp knee injury and a redshirt season later, he rejoined the 1991 Husky team — as Dave Hoffmann's backup. When he got hurt, it was the other way around.

While Clifford was happy for the success of close friend, who became a second-team Associated Press All-America selection, he couldn't help but feel that football hadn't been totally fair to him.

"A little bit, I can't lie about it," Clifford said. "Even when I look back at it, I feel it a little bit. But Dave Hoffmann is an unbelievable football player and one of my best friends. He was the best man in my wedding."

The national title team was so good anybody who was a first- or a second-teamer played not much more than a half most of the time. In 1992, Clifford and Hoffmann started side by side for the Huskies' third consecutive Rose Bowl team.

The Huskies in the middle, though, ran the table and went 12-0 under the masterful guidance of coach Don James and inspired by the defensive genius of Jim Lambright.

"What really stood out was the closeness of the group and the accountability we had to one another," Clifford said. "That's really what did it. I know those two amazing men created that environment, but we ran with it. It was awesome."

Clifford, drafted by the Mariners out of high school, turned to baseball once more when his college football eligibility was up. He played one spring for the UW and spent six seasons as a first baseball in A ball for the Mariners. 

He hit 20 and 25 homer in consecutive seasons for Lancaster of the California League. It wasn't enough to make him keep going. 

Even though he wasn't one of the headline guys for the UW national championship team, Clifford figured everything worked out for the best in the end. 

"I don't think I would have met my wife if I hadn't got hurt," he said. "Things happen for a reason. I would have starred, but she wouldn't have liked me. I got humbled a little bit."

This is another in a series of articles and videos that will replay the UW's 1991 national championship season, which is the apex of Husky football. We don't have a 2020 season, so we'll use '91 as a conversation piece. Clifford will weigh in on other parts of that title run.

Get to know James Clifford in this video:

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: HuskyMaven/Sports Illustrated

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Husky Maven. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.