Sky's The Limit

BY BOB SHERWIN - CONTRIBUTING WRITER

So much of Edefuan Ulofoshio’s energy as a young, aspiring, football player was spent just trying to be noticed when no one was looking. The Washington Huskies redshirt sophomore linebacker was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, where quality football players are as plentiful as flip flops and tank tops. Let’s count them. There’s Mark Schlereth, a guard who had a 12-year NFL career with Washington and Denver. Then there’s…well, that’s where it ends.

Ulofoshio, who began his Husky career as a walk-on, is in a position to one day add his name to that modest list. He was named second-team AllPac-12 in his first season as a starter a year ago and is getting All-America mentions this season. He’s also projected as an NFL prospect. Who knew? Back in Alaska, no one. “The thing about Alaska,” says Ulofoshio, whose father moved there from Nigeria in 1984, married and raised five boys, “is that it’s a hard place to go. There’s not a big talent pool there, so they’re (college recruiters) not going to visit that much. It’s actually hard for athletes to get out of the state.”

Despite playing in the isolation of the Last Frontier, Ulofoshio held onto the dream of playing college football as he endured the weather and the hardships of playing for Anchorage’s South High School. “As a kid, you have adrenaline going, and just playing warms you up, but honestly you need to put heat packs everywhere, sometimes in your pants,” he says. “I used to play with snow gloves instead of football gloves. I wore hoodies and jackets. And so many times after practice I’d get in the car and put my hands on the heater, my fingers were throbbing.”

In 2016, Edefuan (Nigerian for ‘Sun Has Risen’), or Eddy as he is called, was turning 16 when he learned his parents were considering business opportunities in the fundamentally disparate city of Las Vegas. Eddy was all for it. Not only could he finally thaw out, he could play for highly visible Bishop Gorman High, a national prep powerhouse. Gorman, a multiple state and national prep champion, has produced dozens of big-time college players and a handful that have played in the NFL, including RB DeMarco Murray, OT Nick Gates and OT Ronnie Stanley, a 2016 first-round draft pick (sixth overall) by Baltimore. “I jumped on that,” says Eddy. “This was my chance to play football at a higher level. I was bugging my parents about it for the longest time.”

The family did move, but the Anchorage-to-Vegas transition required adjustments for which Eddy wasn’t completely prepared. “Alaska was super calm; everything’s slow,” he says. “But in Vegas, everyone’s moving fast. That’s how football was. It’s a whole different culture. My first year was horrible. I was gassed out. The sun was too hot. I needed to be drinking more water or something. You didn’t have to drink much water in Alaska. It was a whole new experience.”

But Eddy survived. In his senior year in 2017, he helped Gorman win its ninth straight 4A state title and was voted the No. 1 in America by USA Today. Eddy collected 100 tackles, 15 ½ for losses, four fumble recoveries, and two interceptions.

How about that college recruiters? See me now? Not exactly, unless you count two offers from small-school programs, including Robert Morris, a 3,900-student university in Moon Township, Penn. Meanwhile, Eddy would see so many big-time college recruiters surround his teammates, giving them full spiels and full rides. Eddy acknowledges the guys he played with were talented and deserving of attention from college recruiters, but it was clear to him those recruiters were wasting their time. “My teammates were never going to commit to those schools,” he says. “So I thought ‘why don’t you just offer it to me instead?’ They saw me, but turned a blind eye. Some coaches talked to me, got my number and texted, but then completely abandoned me. There were hurtful feelings. You wonder why. But it was out of my control, and I tried not to dwell too much on that.”

The Robert Morris offer was considered. Good Education. Free Tuition. Big fish. His parents could redirect family funds intended for Eddy to their other boys and their college aspirations. But Eddy couldn’t let himself settle. He believed he could play for, and contribute to, a national football power. The only way to do that was to walk on.

That became a kitchen table project for Eddy and his parents. They prepared a list of colleges, which included all the Pac-12 schools, and narrowed their search down to Washington. Without an official invitation from UW, they visited the Seattle campus and liked the direction and history of the school’s football program. They then communicated with the coaching staff, and the next day Ulofoshio was offered a ‘preferred walk-on’ spot.

Eddy was in the middle of history class one day when he got a call. He told his teacher he had to take it and went to the gym. “They offered me the spot and I accepted,“ he remembers. “Then they asked if I wanted to talk to my family first, and I said ‘nope.’”

“I felt bad because I didn’t want to go to Robert Morris,” says Eddy. “But my parents said there was no point getting a scholarship to a school where I might be miserable. That took the weight off and allowed me to make my decision.”

Still, he now faced paying full out-of-state tuition for an undefined spot on a college football team that offered no guarantees of getting onto the playing field or even making the roster. Eddy went through the grueling 2018 preseason camp trying his best every day on the scout team for one nibble on the kickoff team. He didn’t play in any September games. None in October as well. By Nov. 17, the Huskies were 7-3 (5-2 in the Pac-12) and hosting Oregon State in their final home game. Eddy got word that he would be part of the kickoff team against the Beavers, and he made the most of his first time on the field with his first play.

“I’m running down the field and the runner juked me,” Eddy remembers. “I got so mad. I turned around and like punched him and the ball came out. And everyone’s going crazy and stuff.” The Huskies recovered the fumble and scored on the ensuing series in a 42-23 victory. Eddy, who later forced a second fumble, was named Special Teams Player of the Game. He had been noticed.

Eddy played the final three games — still preserving his redshirt — including the Rose Bowl against Ohio State. He played on kickoff returns again and says it wasn’t so much a thrill to play in the Rose Bowl as it was scary. “I was like a freshman blocking these seniors,” he adds. “That’s the day I realized I’m going to start eating,” (he’d go from 224 pounds as a freshman to his current 245). He entered the 2019 season at third string and played primarily on special teams. But in the team’s 11th game — on Nov. 7 against Oregon State again — Eddy was rushed into the game due to injuries. He finished with nine tackles and 1½ sacks to help preserve a 19-7 victory. He earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors. The unheralded, unknown understudy was turning some heads.

At season’s end, Eddy and his teammates had their first meeting with new UW head coach Jimmy Lake, Chris Peterson’s successor. Lake pointed to Eddy, using him as an example of how aggressively he wanted the Dawgs to play. “Then he paused for a full second and yelled ‘you’re on scholarship’,” says Eddy, “and the whole team started jumping on me.” “The call to my parents was one of my favorite phone calls ever,” he says. “I was able to tell them that we did it. It would give my four brothers opportunities. They (parents) didn’t have to spend their money on me. But now they wouldn’t have to worry about my college career anymore.”

Eddy’s education was covered. And it promises to be an education of substance. The biology major hopes to become a doctor. His initial intention was to be a pediatrician, but Covid-19 changed that.

“It (pandemic) gave me a chance to understand how precious life is,” he says. “It was a new disease, and no one knew what to do about it.” Instead of working with one patient at a time, Eddy expanded his vision to helping whole communities by developing vaccines or treatments that would benefit the masses. “I really want the chance to work with the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) or the WHO (World Health Organization),” he says.

With a scholarship securely in his pocket and a starting linebacker spot earned before the 2020 season, Eddy was ready to deliver on the faith the coaching staff had placed in him. “I didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder,” he says. “I wanted to show people I was the real deal. I wanted to show other teams that I’m a good linebacker. I didn’t get recruited by a lot of schools, so I had like a hit list of teams that didn’t want me.”

It’s a bit ironic that in the Huskies’ shortest season in 100 years — limited to just four games last season — Eddy attracted the most attention and praise of his entire football career. Taking over as the core of the defensive middle, Eddy led the team with 47 tackles — 18 against Stanford — had a sack, two forced fumbles and one recovery. He was voted to the All-Pac-12 second team, earned the school’s Earle T. Glant Tough Award and was an honorable mention All-America.

Even though he’s played just seven games in his UW career, there are already predictions that when Edefuan Ulofoshio declares for the NFL draft, he could be a second-round pick. Clearly, he is unnoticed no more.

“That’s truly a blessing,” he says. “That’s a goal of mine. Obviously, I can’t go to the NFL right now. I’m not worried about that. What I can focus on is trying to be the best linebacker I can be, the best leader, the best defense and, ultimately, a part of the best Washington team. We’re trying to win the Pac-12 championship, and beyond.”