UW's Bronson Reaches Pair of Milestones, Needs Final Curtain Call
Josiah Bronson shared how it's his birthday today. He's 23.
He's also a recent college graduate.
What more could a University of Washington student want?
Well, a final college football season would be nice.
The senior defensive lineman from Kent, Washington, is a big success story who deserves a final curtain call.
In another time, a popular network TV show called "Then Came Bronson" had everyone's attention at primetime. It was about a guy who rides around on a motorcycle, looking for adventure. It starred Michael Parks, not Charles Bronson.
That would aptly describe the Huskies' Bronson.
He began his career at Temple University, got hurt and didn't play.
Bronson went back east because he wasn't recruited by the UW.
He walked on with the Huskies and earned a scholarship.
Last season, the 6-foot-3, 298-pound Bronson pulled quite possibly the biggest position surprise of fall camp.
He beat out one of the two returning defensive starters on the defense, Benning Potoa'e.
Bronson went on to start 11 of the 13 games, working in tandem effectively with first-team All-Pac-12 defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike.
Once the 2019 season ended, he earned a sixth year of NCAA eligibility, bringing him back once more.
We profiled him and his good fortune in March on Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated, and you can read it here.
If there will ever be a college football restart, pandemic permitting, Bronson will enter into another classic position battle, maybe the most competitive up and down the Husky lineup.
He must hold off oncoming sophomore Tuli Letuligasenoa, a player who wants his starting job and has the talent be the first-teamer. When and if it happens, it will be entertaining.
Meantime, Bronson should blow out the candles on his birthday cake. He might be the second-oldest Husky on the team behind transfer quarterback Kevin Thomson, who turns 25 in two months.
Bronson should put that degree in a frame and hang it on the wall.
That's no small feat.
He should congratulate himself on a successful college journey so far.
Hopefully for Bronson, it's not over yet.
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