Former UW Tight End Bill Ames Happily Served as 'Road Dawg' for Apple Cup

The Spokane native went out for the coin toss and watched the game from the Husky bench area.

Huddled on Husky sideline during the Apple Cup, wearing a purple sweatshirt and hood in the 30-degree temperatures was Bill Ames, former University of Washington tight end.

He was what you call a Road Dawg, someone from the program past and the geographical area, in this case nearby Spokane, who was asked to join the current UW captains out on the field for the pregame coin toss.

Now a man in his 50s, Ames was entertained by what he saw in Kalen DeBoer's offensive-minded Huskies as they posted a 51-33 victory over Washington State in Pullman.

"I'm glad they throw to the tight end still — it's electric," Ames said. "I'll tell you what they are special to watch. The defense is starting to figure it out, too."

Ames played for legendary coach Don James from 1985 to 1989, first arriving from Spokane's University High School as a quarterback before starting at tight end both as a sophomore and a senior.

In his final season, he caught 34 passes for 276 yards and 3 touchdowns for an 8-4 team that finished up beating Florida and the great running back Emmitt Smith 34-7 in the Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, California.

Bill Ames was a UW tight end from 1985 to 1989, starting as a sophomore and a senior.  / UW

Those Huskies began the season with a season-opening victory at home over Texas A&M, defeating the Aggies 19-6. Ames scored touchdowns against Orange Bowl-bound Colorado, Purdue and Oregon State, and caught a pair of extra-point passes against Colorado and Arizona State.

The son of a high school athletic director of the same name, Ames later had an NFL tryout with the Miami Dolphins before entering into the pharmaceutical sales industry, doing some broadcasting and raising five children in his family. 

As he did a short video interview with this site with the game winding down, it was interrupted by the Huskies scoring yet another touchdown, with running back Wayne Taulapapa racing 40 yards for the final score.

Asked if he could have pictured himself in this Ryan Grubb/DeBoer offense, the former tight end joked about the current demands on the position being too much. 

"I don't know if I would have had the stamina to move around like the way they do," said Ames, who played for the last great previous UW offensive innovator in Keith Gilbertson before the current staff. "That would be a lot of fun. Gilby was a little like that, like this style, '80s style anyway."

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