Sonny Sixkiller's 1971 Crash: 'He Knocked Me Into a House'
Sonny Sixkiller took a crunching hit and was sent flying.
The University of Washington quarterback wasn't standing in the pocket under a heavy rush or scrambling round end on a keeper; in fact, he wasn't anywhere near a football field.
On Nov. 15, 1971, Sixkiller drove through an intersection, a few blocks from Seattle's Green Lake, and his 1971 Volkswagen bug collided with another, older V-Dub.
It was 2:10 a.m., several hours after Sonny and the Husky football team had suffered a deflating 13-12 loss to USC. The accident sent his car careening through a fence and into someone's front yard.
"It was just two people who felt they had the right of way," Sixkiller said. "He knocked me into a house."
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, because he was now a celebrity, treated this as front-page news. On an inside page, the paper ran a photo of Sonny's damaged car up against the residence.
Seattle P-I
People immediately wondered if Sixkiller was out cutting loose after getting handed the extra difficult defeat hours before, but it was fairly innocent stuff. He actually was being a good son.
Sixkiller was returning to his apartment after dropping off his parents at a motel, the Sherwood Inn. Denise Warner, his girlfriend from Yakima, Washington, and eventually his wife, accompanied him. They were talking when the crash happened.
"We were just driving along and, wham, all of a sudden we hit," he said. "It was just something you don't expect."
He suffered a cut chin in the mishap and was taken to University Hospital for an examination and was released. Sixkiller had six days to recover and get ready for the season-ending Apple Cup coming up against Washington State.
The crash actually involved three vehicles at Latona Avenue Northeast and Northeast 56th Street. After Sixkiller's car ended up in the yard, a 1965 Thunderbird came barreling through and struck the other V-Dub stalled in the intersection.
Police who arrived on the scene determined that the third driver was intoxicated. A Seattle Times news account said Sixkiller failed to stop, but Sonny said he was never cited for any infraction.
Following each Husky home game, it had become ritual for Sixkiller and his family members from Oregon to get together. There might be up to 14 of them at times, counting his parents, sisters and their families.
They tried to go out to dinner until it became impossible to eat alone. Fans excitedly surrounded Sonny wherever they went.
"My brother-in-law used to get really pissed off at these people," Sixkiller said. "He would finally tell them to leave me alone."
Sonny could have used him to intercede at that Green Lake intersection.