This former Huskies cornerback will challenge Seahawks receivers in Green Bay
Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven can rattle off an impressive list of former college teammates he’s crossed paths with during his rookie season.
There are, after all, more than 30 former Washington Huskies players scattered on rosters around the league.
Burr-Kirven supposed he might be forgetting a few of the chance meetings this year — there have been so many — but the list he came up with off the top of his head before practice Wednesday was still extensive.
“Let’s think,” he started. “Keishawn Bierria, Sidney Jones, Josh Perkins, Zeke Turner, Coleman Shelton, Taylor Rapp, Byron Murphy, Budda Baker, Darrell Daniels.
“Let me think. I’m probably missing some. Drew Sample, Greg Gaines. There’s probably more. Will (Dissly’s) here. There’s probably more. … There’s a good group of us. It’s pretty awesome.”
He’s exchanged jerseys with a few of them — though he expects he might have to wait a couple of years to trade with more established players like Baker — and enjoys each mini-reunion.
“I’ve been lucky,” Burr-Kirven said. “We’ve had a lot of guys from UW go out in the last couple of years that I know really well. There’s only been maybe a handful of games this year we haven’t played somebody I’ve played with or know well, so it’s been fun.
“You get to go against these guys you spent all this time growing up with in college, then all the sudden you’re playing on the stage you all dreamed about as kids. It’s kind of surreal after the game to get to go up and just be like, ‘Man, we’re here, we’re doing this.’ It’s awesome.”
Another reunion is coming this weekend when the Seahawks play in the divisional round Sunday at Green Bay.
Burr-Kirven played two seasons with former Huskies cornerback Kevin King before the latter was drafted in 2017, and remembers the lockdown defender King was in college.
King spent his first two seasons in Green Bay battling recurring injuries, appearing in nine games as a rookie and just six last season, but broke out the past few months, and paces the Packers with five interceptions — a mark that tied for fourth in the NFL during the regular season. His 66 tackles are the third-most by a Green Bay player this season.
“He’s been playing the way we used to see him play — making interceptions, making plays,” Burr-Kirven said. “You see him floating in the air grabbing balls and just coming up and doing his thing.
“It’s awesome to see him thriving and showing the kind of player that he is.”
King, at 6-foot-3, is surely capable of challenging Seattle’s receivers and will likely draw the assignment of covering Seahawks rookie DK Metcalf because of the height similarity. King has often moved around the field to tail an opponents’ top receiver.
Metcalf is just as aware of who he might be lining up across from. When asked at practice earlier this week what stands out to him about Green Bay’s secondary, Metcalf quickly responded with King’s name.
“I know he’s a big corner and they’re going to challenge us at the line,” Metcalf said. “They play a lot of man. They’re pretty much experienced on the back end. … It’s going to be a good matchup for us.”
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson noted how sure-handed King his, and how his speed can impact the game.
“You’ve got to know where he is and how he makes plays,” Wilson said.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll said the Seahawks liked King at the combine the year he participated. King ran the fastest three-cone drill and short shuffle among defensive backs and impressed with his 4.43-second time in the 40-yard dash.
“He’s right in the mold of guys we like,” Carroll said. “He’s real long. He’s real fast. Good hands. Good competitor and all that. We really liked him. He’s exactly like the guys we like to look at.”
And now the Seahawks will have to game plan against him.
“He’s a great player,” Burr-Kirven said. “I’m lucky I don’t play offense and I don’t have to deal with him. It will be on Russ and the receivers to handle him. I think he’s definitely a talented guy, and they’ll have to have a good game plan for how they’re going to attack him.
“But, he’ll make his plays and we’ll make our plays, and hopefully at the end of the day we’ll be the ones that makes a couple more plays than he does.”
Burr-Kirven plans to seek out King pregame Sunday to visit briefly — the two bonded during their college days over their Bay Area roots — and said he is always encouraged when his former teammates have success.
“I always want to see them do well,” Burr-Kirven said. “Obviously, when we play against them I hope we beat them, but other than that, I always cheer for them and want to see them play well.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 3:26 PM.
