Football History

Born March 7, 1943, in Portland, Oregon was a two-way player at guard and linebacker from the University of Washington from 1962 to 1964; Rick Redman arrived into this life. An interesting little tidbit for the University of Washington's Tyee Club website was that Redman had his heart set on attending a different school as a youth. The Tyee Club's website tells this story; "Twelve-year-old Rick Redman committed his heart to play football at Notre Dame on the day his father died, the same day the pair had watched his dad's beloved Fighting Irish on television. Six years later, he followed his head to the UW for a business degree and one of the most successful football careers in school history. When Rick graduated from Seattle's Bishop Blanchet High School in 1961, he planned to accept Notre Dame's scholarship offer. Then, his stepfather — John Sellen, founder of Sellen Construction — asked him to consider Washington "and all the relationships and connections I could make for my future if I stayed here."  "I'd been to games and practices and had been recruited by the Huskies, but I'd never been on upper campus. I didn't know anything about the school," Rick explains. One phone call to a coach and one campus tour later, Rick became a Husky." An intriguing path indeed to the Husky program but one that everyone in the great northwestern corner of the US is glad he traveled! One of Rick's strongest gridiron attributes was his versatility. He was a great blocker, but he also had the mobility and range to play linebacker and took on the chore of punting for his team, according to the NFF. In his junior season, 1963, he opened up with some adversity as Washington opened the season with three straight losses. The resolve of the team and Redman then appeared as the team turned their fortunes around and rattled off six wins in their last seven games taking the conference title, and even earning a trip to the Rose Bowl. Redman was named all-conference guard three times, All-American guard twice, and Academic All-American once. The National Football Foundation panel of experts selected Rick Redman's collegiate career worthy of display at the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. Rick then followed his college career with nine seasons with the San Diego Chargers in the NFL. After hanging up his helmet for the last time, he took over his stepfather's construction business using those UW contacts and connections that were promised to him so long ago.