Kreutz Ready For His Finale As Husky UW Center Will Have His Own Rooting Section In Thursday’s Aloha Bowl

Olin Kreutz would appear to be used to tight quarters, having grown up on the island of Oahu - 44 miles long and 30 miles wide - and deciding to play center in football.

But when Kreutz showed up to play for the University of Washington 28 months ago, he felt closed in as never before.

His beloved, if sometimes troubled, family was a long plane ride away. He had few friends, and he wasn’t used to the faster-paced lifestyle of playing major college football in a big-time city.

“In Hawaii, you’re not in a rush for anything,” said UW teammate and fellow Islander Petro Kesi. “In Seattle, everything is faster, especially being a football player where everything is time management. It was something he had to get used to.”

“People in Hawaii are calm and relaxed and they give you your space,” Kreutz said. “They don’t talk to you much if you don’t want to be talked to. The people in Seattle will get right into your space. In Hawaii, there’s like an imaginary space you have where you don’t bug anybody. People don’t seem to have that space in Seattle and I had to get used to that.”

But despite periods of almost continual thoughts of giving it up and returning home, Kreutz stuck it out long enough to establish himself as one of the best linemen to ever play for Washington.

Named a first-team All-American this season as a junior, Kreutz already has decided to enter the NFL draft and will have a fitting finale as a Husky on Christmas Day when the UW takes on Michigan State in the Aloha Bowl.

Kreutz figures more than 130 family members and friends will be on hand.

“These are people that I know and who supported me through all of this and helped me through it,” Kreutz said. “Everybody who has been watching me on TV can come and support me. It’s like a Christmas gift I can give them.”

Foremost among them will be his mother, Lora Kreutz-Perry, and grandfather, George Perry.

“She’s had a hard life,” said Kreutz, at 20 the youngest in a family of four boys. “Me and her and another brother are the only ones left in the house and she lives in a two-bedroom apartment.”

Kreutz credits his grandfather for much of his toughness.

But Kreutz also inherited a mean streak from the elder males in his family that resulted in the biggest black mark on his Husky career - his sucker punch of defensive tackle Sekou Wiggs after a practice in the spring of 1996.

Wiggs took months to recover from a broken jaw and Kreutz was suspended for the rest of the spring and enrolled in anger management classes.

He had to slowly work his way back into the good graces of his teammates, including Wiggs, who said he now considers Kreutz a friend.

But after almost ruining his chances for a long-cherished pro football career, Kreutz said, “I think I’ve learned what is important in life and what isn’t.”

And after Thursday, he’s ready to tackle the future.