Yale’s Dale made long trip to top

The six-hour Greyhound bus ride from West Seattle High to the Spokane Valley for Friday’s East-West All-Star High School Football game was a breeze compared with the journey upon which Darius Dale is about to embark.

Dale, a football late bloomer, will travel to Connecticut in the fall to continue his education and football career in the Ivy League at Yale.

His is a story of academic achievement and football success despite not becoming a starter until his senior year.

Dale lives in government housing in the High Point area of West Seattle.

“We come from pretty low socioeconomic circumstances,” he said.

He is the most academically accomplished member of his family, with a grade-point average near 4.0 and a 1,260 score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

“He’s always been focused, one of those kids who’s taken advantage of very opportunity,” said his coach Tom Burggraff. “It’s quite a story.”

Dale garnered several academic honors, including a Seattle National Football Foundation chapter scholar-athlete winner, and is active in his community.

He didn’t begin playing until his sophomore season and was limited his junior year because of injury.

But last fall he was named lineman of the year in the Metro League’s Sound Division for a team that made its first state football appearance.

“I didn’t foresee it until our first game,” said Burggraff. “On film, he was pretty dominant.”

That’s when he started sending tapes to colleges, saying one coach told him he’d love to have Dale, but felt guilty because he could have an Ivy League education.

“They (Yale) got interested and came calling,” said Dale. “I took a visit and liked it. It is a really nice place.”

His plan is to major in engineering. Yale is looking at him as an offensive lineman for football.

“The defensive line coach is trying to steal me,” Dale said.

Mike Vlahovich