While His UW Career Ended in Bad Way, McDuffie's NFL World Couldn't Be Better

In a season's time, the corner is going from the Apple Cup to the Super Bowl.

Dan Raley | Feb 5, 2023

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Washington Huskies

Trent McDuffie just stood and stared, which really was all he could do.

His University of Washington football career had ended badly with a 40-13 Apple Cup loss to Washington State and the cornerback remained on the field for the longest time, helpless to do anything except watch Cougars fans celebrate wildly at Husky Stadium.

Perhaps no other player was hurt more by the UW football collapse of 2021, accelerated by coach Jimmy Lake's midseason firing, than McDuffie.

Sure, the California native became a first-team All-Pac-12 selection and a first-round NFL draft pick, yet a 4-8 record has a way of robbing gifted players such as him of some of the extras he deserved, such as consideration for All-American honors, as if the downturn was partially his fault.

Fourteen months later, however, McDuffie has more good things happening around him than he can handle. He's gone from those smoldering Husky ruins to the game's biggest stage. From football rags to gridiron riches. From the lowest of the Montlake lows to pro football's rarefied air.

On Feb. 12, McDuffie will take the field as a starting rookie cornerback for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

No one dares feel sorry for this defensive back anymore. They celebrate him and his football good fortune. He's the only UW product set to appear on this big stage, though defensive tackle Danny Shelton is on the KC practice squad just in case. While his Huskies lost their final four games, the Chiefs are 16-3, enjoying a seven-game win streak.

Most of all, McDuffie is a great player and everyone knows it by now. He's a lockdown corner in the NFL, one of the league's most valuable commodities. He's overcome even more football adversity, missing six games with a hamstring injury, to play well enough to put his team in the biggest football game there is.

"Just the positivity that surrounded me, whether it was family and friends, where it was coming into this building with coaches and players just constantly lifting me up," McDuffie said of his injury ordeal at a Super Bowl news conference. "It really just allowed me to stay confident through the whole thing and come back like I never left.”

Check out the photo gallery of his glorious season in Kansas City after three years at the UW that follows here:

SEATTLE SLEW :: Denny Hedley/USA TODAY Sports

In Week 16, Trent McDuffie shared in a 24-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, beating the pro team from his college town.

CAN'T-MISS TACKLER :: Jay Biggerstaff/USA TODAY Sports

Cornerback Trent McDuffie, all alone in the open field, hauls down Cincinnati Bengals tight end Hayden Hurst in the AFC championship game.

DOUBLE-PLAY COMBO :: Jay Biggerstaff/USA TODAY Sports

Chiefs secondary rookies Bryan Cook and Trent McDuffie go up together to deflect a Jacksonville Jaguars pass in the AFC divisional playoff game.

PIGGY-BACK RIDE :: Joseph Maiorana/USA TODAY Sports

Trent McDuffie has 54 tackles and 10 pass break-ups entering Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Arizona.

CATCHING A CARDINAL :: Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports

Trent McDuffie made his NFL debut against the Arizona Cardinals, wrapping up Greg Dortch, and tore a hamstring muscle playing on a slick surface in Glendale.

NO ROOKIE MISTAKE :: Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

Trent McDuffie was selected 21st overall in the NFL draft last April, with the Chiefs trading up eight spots to take him.

Trent McDuffie career comes to an end and he gets a hug as he watches Washington State fans celebrate an Apple Cup victory.

In three UW seasons, cornerback Trent McDuffie made No. 22 a recognizable jersey on game day, earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2021.

Trent McDuffie was a Husky Stadium favorite after becoming a full-time starter as a true freshman in 2019 and a defensive stalwart.

The UW cornerback graced the front of Athlon's college football preview magazine that was sold in the Northwest before the 2021 season.

Ironically, McDuffie was injured in his NFL debut on the same field he will play on to settle the Super Bowl, a slick surface in suburban Phoenix that caused him to tear a hamstring muscle. He missed six games.

“That was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in sports,” McDuffie said. “I’ve never had an injury that affected me for such a long period and disabled me, pretty much, for so long. During that process, I think the thing that helped me was just sticking to the consistency of the every day, going to meetings, showing up to practice, just acting like I was playing every week."

He enters the showcase event having appeared in 11 regular-season games and a pair of playoff outings. He's collected 54 tackles, a pair of tackles for loss, a forced fumble and 10 pass break-ups while still awaiting his first NFL interception.

Pro Football Focus calls him a draft steal as the 21st player taken overall, with Kansas City trading up eight spots to get him, and a player who might have the biggest impact on what potentially could be the top coverage unit across the NFL.

McDuffie's rate of 15-plus-yard plays allowed ranks second only to New York Jets rookie Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, according to PFF. Among the 86 cornerbacks who played at least 300 snaps during the regular season, McDuffie emerges near the top in several key metrics.

He was one of four rookie defensive backs to join the Chiefs this season along with cornerback Jaylen Watson, a former WSU player who had a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown that helped beat the San Diego Chargers; cornerback Josh Williams, a former Fayetteville State player who intercepted Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrows in the AFC championship game; and safety Bryan Cook, who came to the Chiefs from the University of Cincinnati.

Extra pressure was put on each of them this past weekend when veteran corner L'Jarius Sneed was lost on the fourth play against the Bengals with a concussion. Everyone stepped up.

“Obviously there was concern, but there was an optimism that it can be done," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of his rookie quartet. "Then the kids, just their work ethic, they showed us this in training camp. They showed it all the way through the season. If they got beat, they came back and fought back.”

McDuffie's value is best measured by how often Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo deploys him in press coverage, the hardest defensive assignment for a corner whereas he lines up one yard from the wide receiver and tries to disrupt his route.

Of 112 cornerbacks who played at least 50 snaps in press coverage this year, McDuffie ranked third among them in coverage grade, according to PFF.

He calls his first season in the NFL a learning curve, especially after getting hurt so early and bouncing back strong. He proved to be a schematic fit in the Chiefs' press coverage and has flourished.

"As rookies coming in we don’t really know the game, we don’t know the speed of it," McDuffie said. "A lot of things are new to us, scheduling-wise all the way to football. So trying to just keep an open mind, trying to just constantly learn. Learn from the vets, learn from other rookies, was something I took pride in and I think is the reason why it’s helped me so much throughout the year.”

A Super Bowl appearance his first time through the league easily erases any lingering Husky disappointment.

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Published Feb 5, 2023

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.