Washington Football Players Return to Honor Late Teammate

Several former Washington Huskies returned to Montlake over the weekend as the team honored the late Voi Tunuufi during the first half in Saturday's 16-14 win over Utah State.

Tunuufi, a defensive lineman who played 52 games for the Huskies from 2021-24, died in a car accident near his hometown of South Jordan, Utah, on May 4. Dozens of his teammates, including Devin Culp , Richard Newton, Drew Fowler, Alphonzo Tuputala, and Jackson Girouard, got together after the Huskies' afternoon victory Saturday to pay respects after Tunuufi was honored at Husky Stadium during a television timeout in the first quarter.

Former edge rushers coach Eric Schmidt, Tunuufi's position coach under then-coach Kalen DeBoer, who is now the head coach at North Dakota, offered his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) before delivering a thrashing 47-23 win over Portland State. Tunuufi's parents had a detailed mural made in their basement that other former UW football players have shared on social media, including Lance Holtzclaw, who now plays nearby at the University of Utah.

In his four seasons at UW, the former standout defensive lineman from East High School suited up for three different coaches and was one of a handful of players to return to the school to play for Jedd Fisch after the run to the national championship game in DeBoer's final season.

From a tumultuous 2021 season with Jimmy Lake at the helm as a freshman, which saw Tunuufi appear in 11 games with two starts. His first start came at Arizona against Fisch's Wildcats, a comeback 21-16 win in Tucson, and his second came against Oregon later in the year.

Tunuufi's early success blossomed in the following two seasons. He proved to be a key rotational defensive lineman, making several crucial plays, including sacks against then-No. 11 Michigan State, Arizona, and in the 2022 Alamo Bowl against Texas.

In total, the ever-present defender finished his career with 86 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. As impressive and impactful as his numbers were, however, his name and No. 52 will certainly never be forgotten on the shores of Montlake and wherever his former teammates, coaches, and family are.