The Passing of a Mythical Figure Who Was a Good Man

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

I received a dreaded but not unexpected phone call from Mark Johnson early this morning.

After several years of battling all sorts of severe health problems, one of the almost mythical athletes of the late 1960s University of Washington football had passed away.

Clyde Werner

1947-2025

Clyde was a three year starting linebacker for the Huskies from 1967-1969. Remember, in those days, the NCAA rules did not allow Freshman to play at the, if you will, Varsity level.

It was believed back then that these Freshmen needed time to acclimate themselves to college life and thus would play only a few games on the Frosh team versus other college Frosh teams and junior college elevens.

I've always had a clear memory of the first time I saw Clyde.

It was the Fall of 1966 and I was a Sophomore J.C transfer from California's Glendale College. I had already heard several glowing reports about this "Super-Frosh" who had been named the State of Washington's High School Back of the year in 1965 and then set state records in both the discus and shot put in the Spring of 1966.

Quite the Senior year at Tacoma's Wilson H.S., don't you think?

I went with someone, can't remember who exactly, to watch a random movie at the U District's Neptune Theater. We had just entered the lobby when the guy I was with said casually, "That's Clyde Werner over there at the snack counter."

I turned to look and saw this guy in a Pendleton shirt and Levis. My first thought was, "My God, that's Paul Bunyan!"

Literally, my next thought was to wonder if his equally famous American folklore companion, his Blue Ox Babe, was parked outside the theater somewhere.

We introduced ourselves and found him to be a humble, down to earth young man not at all caught up in the hype surrounding him.

He had a great career at the UW and still holds the school record with an astounding 23 tackles in a single game.

Clyde pressuring the 49ers

QB Jim Plunkett

Clyde was drafted in the Second Round of the 1970 NFL Draft, 52nd pick overall, by the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Clyde played in Chicago's old

College All-Star Game against

his new team, the Chiefs

Clyde would go on to play linebacker for the Chiefs for eight seasons from 1970-1977.

Over the years, whenever I ran into Clyde, he was still that humble, down to earth young man that I first met 59 years ago at the Neptune Theater, just much funnier and outgoing.

Rest in peace, my friend. Husky Nation lost a great one today.