Marc Goudeau (1969-2019): He Was a Husky and a Bronco

He pulled on a uniform for Washington and Boise State during his college football career

Marc Goudeau would have loved watching Saturday night's Vegas Bowl. He played inside linebacker for both Washington and Boise State. 

He also was a huge sports fan who hosted social gatherings whenever there was a big game on, especially the Huskies, and he would have had a holiday party planned for this matchup. 

Sadly, Goudeau passed away this past summer, dying in Bellevue, Washington, on July 14 from a head injury suffered in a fall. He was just 50.

Recruited out of Eastside Catholic High School in the Seattle area, Goudeau made his intentions known to play for the Huskies on the same day in 1987 that prized running back Greg Lewis committed his talents to them. These two shared a headline and a story in the local newspapers.

They got further acquainted through football camps and clinics, were named to the same all-star teams, and were teammates for three seasons at the UW. 

"I just knew Mark as a real smart, fun guy who was a really good football player," Lewis said (shown in the video). "He was certainly somebody that everybody around this area knew about. He was really a good athlete."

Goudeau, shown in the accompanying photo wearing a Freedom Bowl uniform, was a backup linebacker for the Huskies, playing behind the likes of Dave Hoffmann, James Clifford and Chico Fraley. 

On that particular day in 1989, he shared in a 34-7 victory over Florida where the UW defense completely bottled up the Gators' highly regarded running back Emmitt Smith, later an NFL star.

Yet after that impressive win, Goudeau transferred to Boise State in search of more playing time. He sat out the 1990 season and was a well-used linebacker for a 7-4 Broncos team the following year. 

He returned home and operated his own company recruiting information technology professionals. Along the way, he ran into Lewis and they got caught up, briefly chatting about Goudeau's transfer from the UW. 

"We had a lot of really good linebackers come in during that era," Lewis said. "He felt like it was a better situation for him to get some playing time, so that worked out for him. But he's always going to be, in my mind, a Husky, and one of my Dawg teammates."